HBO documentary ‘One South’ explores the college mental health crisis

A group of college students sit in a sun-drenched room, laughing over a game of cards. In a courtyard, others play an impromptu game of volleyball without a net.

These scenes, typical of any university campus, are taking place in an inpatient psychiatric unit designed specifically for students struggling with mental health issues.

It’s the focus of a new HBO documentary, “One South,” premiering Tuesday. Filmmakers Alexandra Shiva and Lindsey Megrue spent eight weeks inside the unit at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, part of Long Island Jewish Medical Center, talking to patients, psychologists and other staff members to examine the mental health crisis among young people. .

A young man tells how he went to the George Washington Bridge for the first time and stood there for two hours while thinking about jumping. A young woman tells her psychologist that she overdosed on pills not to kill herself, but to apologize to her father after an argument. An international student, distraught over her failing grades, is spiraling into anxiety and shame after being reminded by her mother how her actions could upset the family.

“I think explaining the topic of journeys to health and highlighting how there is so much hope for these young people and being able to show that to a large population is so important,” Laura Braider, a clinical psychologist and assistant vice president of the mental college. of health at Northwell Health who oversees the College of Behavioral Health Partnership program, said in an interview. She decided along with other officials of the health system to leave the cameras inside.

The filmmakers, she said, “did a really good job of showing their beauty by learning together and helping each other.”

Collegiate Behavioral Health Partnership the program began as a pilot in 2009 and now includes over 95 colleges across New York. Students are referred through health and counseling offices and providers and their absence from school is reported as a medical leave. Most stay between seven and 10 days to stabilize and then set up a post-acute care program to provide support after discharge. The 22-bed unit hails from Long Island and the region.

Viewers see camaraderie develop between some of the patients; individual and group therapy sessions; and behind-the-scenes work involving nurses, social workers, custodians and security, as well as behavioral health specialists.

Shiva said that while she and Megrue had undertaken other projects focused on mental health, inpatient treatment — in which patients live in a hospital for a set period of time — was a topic that had not been widely explored.

“People don’t really understand what happens and what that process is like,” she said. “We found this program and we thought they did such an incredible job that we really wanted to include it in this and find a way to tell this story and hopefully demystify what hospital treatment is so that people are more comfortable asking for help if they really need it. .”

Megrue noted that inpatient care is the “least understood and most stigmatized” part of mental health treatments.

“We’re reading so much about the mental health crisis in young people,” she said. “Alex and I are both mothers… I was curious to understand this better so I could prepare myself as a parent.”

Patients could request that the cameras be turned off during therapy sessions, but many did not stop them even during difficult moments. When a patient has an outburst, the cameras are kept away, but capture staff rushing to help them. Their screams echo through the halls and through the thick glass.

Braider praised Shiva and Megrue for being meticulous and sensitive with their filming. And she said patients had an easier time around the cameras than some of the staff.

“This generation of college students is much more comfortable in front of a camera than other generations,” she said. And these kids really wanted to show people that there was a place like this where you could get better, you could feel better, and you could learn.”

Braider said she hopes viewers will have a better understanding and empathy for the young patients and staff.

“There can be people in their darkest moments and they can go on to live really happy and healthy lives,” she said. “People always ask me, ‘How come you’re not depressed doing the job you’re doing?’ And I say, ‘No, because I see people getting better all the time.'”

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignments.