A Film By Sheila Ganz

The documentary-in-progress Piece of Mind illuminates the struggles of families with loved ones and persons living with severe mental illness – for safe thoughts, safe body, safe place.

“Piece of Mind points out so poignantly the stigma and social rejection that persons with serious mental illness suffer and the barriers they encounter every day, so that more people can advocate for this ostracized group.”
-Paul Lam, PsyD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Planning to move her sister with schizophrenia from Massachusetts to San Francisco, filmmaker Sheila Ganz’s desire to find a good facility and get her on the right medication becomes an intimate exploration, as the documentary Piece of Mind delves into the struggles of two families with loved ones and a person living with severe mental illness in pursuit of psychiatric treatment and healing, stymied by cognitive impairment, encounters with police officers and systemic barriers to care that require immediate humane solutions.

These stories are told against the backdrop of systemic inequities in mental healthcare for persons living with untreated severe mental illness.  How can society help individuals who don’t know they are ill?  Can unnecessary tragedies of homelessness, incarceration and police shootings be averted?  What are the humane solutions?