Louis Theroux: By Reason of Insanity

Synopsis

How does society treat those who have committed crimes - at times horrifically violent - while in the grip of severe mental illness? Over the course of these two fascinating films, award-winning journalist Louis Theroux explores the nature of mental illness and spends time with some sufferers in the... How does society treat those who have committed crimes - at times horrifically violent - while in the grip of severe mental illness? Over the course of these two fascinating films, award-winning journalist Louis Theroux explores the nature of mental illness and spends time with some sufferers in the USA who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Visiting Ohio's State Psychiatric Hospitals, he meets patients who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered by the courts to receive treatment in secure psychiatric facilities in the hope of their eventual reintegration back into society. He also meets patients with a diagnosis of 'personality disorder', such as anti-social, borderline and narcissistic, and attempts to understand where mental illness ends and the person begins.