Heartland Production.
Language
English
Description
This program explores clinical depression, explaining the symptoms, various treatment options, and the need to erase the negative stigma that this illness carries. The program features three patients who suffer from clinical depression, examining the devastating effect of the illness on them, how they have dealt with the social stigma, the roles of their families and friends during their illness, and perhaps most importantly, how they have fared in...
Language
English
Description
This program chronicles the lives of two families-a Native American family, which has recently moved from a reservation to the city; and a family from Laos, who recently immigrated to the same city. For a family coming from a Native American reservation, or for a family immigrating from another country, integrating one's culture, or even just retaining it, can be a trying and difficult process. Through their honesty and candor, the families explain...
Language
English
Description
Approximately 10% of children have some difficulties in learning to speak. This program explores how children learn to communicate and how parents can help their children overcome speech problems if they occur. It follows families as they work on their child's speech and/or language skills in an institutional setting and at home; shows the challenges the children face in developing such social and physical skills as meeting new friends or learning...
Language
English
Description
For many women, a preoccupation with body image and a lack of self-esteem manifest themselves in an obsession with food and diet. Such destructive obsessions can result in anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia. These eating disorders are not about food; they are a reflection of and an outlet for inner turmoil, fueled by society's focus on appearance and the fashion of thinness. This program looks at the hidden behavior, stress, denial, and the cycle of...
Language
English
Description
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a completely preventable medical condition. Studies show that the average MPD patient spends seven years and receives three incorrect diagnoses before receiving an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. It is now recognized that MPD is the result of severe childhood trauma, usually sexual and physical abuse-and it develops as a coping mechanism in young children who develop other personalities to deal...
Language
English
Description
Alcoholism affects not only the person suffering from the disease but the alcoholic's family as well. This program takes an in-depth look at the effects of alcoholism on both the individual and the family, contrasting an urban and a rural home linked by the common problem of alcoholism. From the alcoholic to his or her spouse and their children, everyone is affected. As other family members seek to cope and prevent the destruction of the family, unhealthy...
Language
English
Description
For a person who has a disability, finding and maintaining a job and gaining acceptance at a company can be a difficult process. This program promotes the development of supportive employment within the community by following four very different individuals with disabilities as they meet their respective employment challenges. The program is designed to encourage people with disabilities to persevere in the workplace while helping nondisabled people...
Language
English
Description
Inhalant abuse is a particularly sinister form of substance abuse because these substances are relatively easy to access, the "high" is reached quickly, abusers can become addicted in a very short time-and unless caught very early, it almost certainly leads to permanent damage to the brain and other vital organs. This program focuses on the causes of and prevention of inhalant abuse, looking at the psychological and physiological aspects of addiction,...
Language
English
Description
Angela Macdougall is a wife, mother, and S.W.A.T. team sniper. This program explores what it is like to balance a career in a risky, high-visibility, male-dominated occupation with marriage and motherhood. Angie and her husband, Chris, talk about the demands of law enforcement-the need for objectivity, the fight against cynicism, the skepticism of fellow officers, the emphasis on physical fitness-and the sacrifices they have both made to accommodate...
Language
English
Description
This program explores how a doctor and a social worker help families and individuals cope with ADD. Dr. John Schneeberger, an expert on the condition, provides a thorough explanation of the disorder, including the multi-modal treatment approach which combines medical, psychological, educational, and parental intervention, as well as the appropriate uses of Ritalin. The program observes as the social worker helps children with ADD to build their social...
Language
English
Description
This program examines male violence towards women by following three men with a history of abuse who have joined a program to help them stop their abusive behavior. The issues of authority and control by men over women, both physically and mentally, are explored by the men and by domestic counselors as a major cause of male violence towards women. Popular misconceptions such as the woman's role in "provoking" the violence are dispelled. Two women...