Kony Filmmaker Diagnosed With Psychosis
Just two weeks after the explosively popular release of his “Kony 2012” video, director Jason Russell has been diagnosed with brief reactive psychosis.
Russell, 33, was admitted to a mental health facility for observation last week after he was seen roaming through the streets of San Diego in his underwear. Witnesses say he was screaming incoherently and banging his fists on the ground.
“Though this is new to us, the doctors say this is a common experience given the great mental, emotional and physical shock his body has gone through in these last two weeks,” said his wife Danica Russell.
Brief reactive psychosis is a condition caused by extreme stress, something which fits Russell’s experience.
“The sudden transition from relative anonymity to worldwide attention – both raves and ridicules, in a matter of days,” Mrs. Russell explained.
Other symptoms of brief reactive psychosis include strange speech and behavior, as well as hallucinations.
Though most people suffering from brief reactive psychosis recover within a month, Russell's wife says it may be months before her husband returns to San Diego and Invisible Children. Russell is expected to remain in the hospital for weeks; however his wife is confident that he will make a full recovery.
Russell's 30 minute video, “Kony 2012” was released onto the Internet two weeks ago. The video, which has received over 84 million views on YouTube, brings light to the African warlord Joseph Kony, and the 26-year-old conflict of brutal crimes against humanity.
Russell, who narrated the video, and activist group Invisible Children has come under fire for simplifying the horrors of the Lord’s Resistance Army, partly comprised of abducted children. Invisible Children acknowledged these criticisms explaining that the video is merely a “first entry point” designed to put the Kony conflict in “an easily understandable format.”
To view the "Kony 2012" video, click here.
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