Love Bound - When Your Child Becomes Mentally ill (2021)

• 76%
• 2021
• Documentary
• Vibe Mogensen

One out of ten in Denmark suffers from mental illness and it is the most common health condition of them all. Yet, due to the taboo and stigmatisation of mental illness, it is still under prioritized and as a result the welfare system is pushed to its limits. The care of the mentally ill instead falls upon relatives, most often parents and they become the lifeline and primary carer. When a family member gets sick it affects everyone in that family and especially those who love them. LOVE BOUND unconvers the unconditional love, which governs the relationship most parents have to their children and that must somehow be altered, when a child is suffering from mental illness. There is an extreme uncertainty connected to loving and living with a person who is mentally ill - who can change rapidly within the course of their illness and perhaps become suicidal or aggressive. This means that many caregivers find themselves struggling with maintaining a "normal" life for themselves - keeping their job, having a social life and taking care of their own health. This film is shot behind closed doors, inside the confidentiality of the therapy room. Over a period of months a group of parents share their joys and sorrows and come to realise that they are all in the same boat riding the same chaotic storm. LOVE BOUND, is an intense and intimate film which emanates from a space, where parents struggle to find the balance between taking care of their children and not burning out. At the core of the film lies the dilemma of how much you must let go of yourself in order to save your kin.