Synopsis
Alfred has been in a psychiatric hospital for more than 35 years and does not believe he will leave it in his lifetime. He started painting in the psychiatric clinic and is painting monsters on blankets. Painting alleviates his anxieties and helps him to get rid off his anger. Anger about what he experienced.Alfred is one of the 16 psychiatric patients who are portrayed in this documentary. All patients are artistically ambitious and show a wide variety of talents. They are sculptors, painters, musicians, a photographer and an actor.
Schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, depression, burnout and borderline syndromes as well as drug and alcohol addictions brought them to the psychiatric ward. Self-reflections of the protagonists reveal important insights into the causes and triggers of these diseases as well as into the complex relationship between the patient’s art and their mental constitutions.
The chief medical director and the head of the art studio emphasize the importance of art in the treatment of psychiatric patients.
The artistic involvement helps most of the portrayed patients to live better with their diseases. However, art was not enough to save one of those patients.