The occupation is over. OPS/RCMP/OPP have done their job. The power of a healing community needs to kick in to support those in need. The following story from CBC reminds me of “Lars and the Real Girl,” a 2007 film written by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Nancy Oliver. (shorturl.at/mvxJ4)
What makes the movie, so moving is how everyone in the town is changed by their roles in Lars’ fantasy.
Real-life mental illness does not always function as well as this lovely film depicts it. However, I feel there is still something essential for us to learn from the community’s loving embrace of Lars, who is suffering from severe, painful loss and has turned to a delusory relationship with a doll named Bianca as his only means of coping.
The therapeutic potential of a caring community that compassionately accepts someone who has a mental illness is nicely captured, and it merits further exploration by mental health and community development professionals interested in thinking outside the box when it comes to addressing mental health through a caring community approach.
Lars teaches us something about the community that we seem to have forgotten — something that is needed now more than ever — namely, that the only things that cure the individual and the group are kindness and compassion. These traits triumph over fear and insanity, which we all yearn for.
#mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #OBMH #caringforothers #healingcommunity
