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Telly addicts

Anyone watching Louis Theroux right now ?

110 replies

AnyFucker · 12/05/2019 21:38

Focussing on a mother and baby unit for mums with MH difficulties

Crying here and Louis is just lovely

OP posts:
RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 16/05/2019 01:30

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/louis-theroux-mothers-on-the-edge-review-bbc-2-documentary-a8908066.html

Ouch! That's a damning review.

I appreciate the documentary in that I had severe PND, not psychosis but depressed enough to see a psych in hospital to determine I was not going to harm myself or DD1. (That's a thread for another time, support was not great is all I will say - didn't want to take anti-depressants as ebf/told not in need enough for surestart help/was very isolated and coping with terminal illness of family member at the same time: it all took a toll on my mental health. I wish I'd been more internet savvy then/had MN earlier. It's why I always reply to first-time mums at stupid o'clock).
I read another article with Louis interviewed - he was saying he didn't want to come across as a mansplainer/look how good I am when changing nappies etc

I do know he means well but he clearly still doesn't understand maternal ambivalence and is insisting all the mums loved their babies really but judgement was clouded/were doing a great job but couldn't see it. That, to me, still feeds into society's expectations/adulation of Motherhood. I really wish he had interviewed others - Naomi Wolf who wrote Misconceptions or Rachel Cusk who wrote A Life's Work.

BethlamBabe · 16/05/2019 08:35

That article sums up my feelings really well.

I'm going to take a look at those books now.

DarlingNikita · 17/05/2019 10:25

IntentsandPorpoises, I totally agree when you say 'She will have given permission when she was well for it to be included… Mental Health isn't a "special" secret thing that needs protecting behind closed doors. That's what leads it the problems. We need to see what depression, anxiety, ocd, psychosis etc look like, feel like. Show that these are not shameful.'

I'm going to assume that the Spanish woman gave consent once she was well enough and that she knows/knew what she was doing. I thought it was very courageous and generous of her to allow the footage to be shown, for the reasons you give.

Louis was empathetic throughout IMO. I don't think he was dismissive of her at all. He kept asking her if she was OK, stopping talking and turning to look at her whenever she spoke or moved etc. It was she who would say things like 'I'm going to go' and make a move to leave, and then stop and start talking again.

I thought in general he was very mindful of not talking about the women as if they weren't there –he would start to address a partner or professional and say 'she' and then stop himself, turn to the woman and say their name/bring them into the discussion.

I can't agree with Lucy Mangan either. I didn't find that he 'tried to insist that not just her situation but her experiences were different to how she had described them.'; I thought he was reflecting people's words back to them, slightly differently, in an attempt to help clarify or expand on what he had heard them say. Some of the women said things like 'Yes' or 'That's a good way to describe it,' which suggests that he was quite perceptive and accurate. And I really didn't see any hint of 'aggression, or outrage, or perhaps just panic'; I thought he looked concerned, interested, worried at times, sad at others.

MissB83 · 19/05/2019 17:05

I haven't RTFT but I just watched this on catch up yesterday. I thought Louis was terrible! I'm normally a big fan but he was way out of his depth here.

The issues of post partum mental health are complex and nuanced. There were women with very different health conditions, but his approach was clunkingly awful. He was particularly bad with Jake's mum (the lady who sadly tried to take her life). He had no appreciation of why her life experiences would cause her to find bonding with her son difficult (or at least to feel the bond). He was also awful with the lady with the three children. He just asked the stupidest questions and it was intrusive and embarrassing especially when he was talking across actual mental health professionals, possibly even potentially damaging.

A completely missed opportunity - I would have preferred to see someone who has experienced PPD etc to present. And before anyone comments, I have a long mental health history of depression (including PPD), anxiety and complex-PTSD so it matters to me that this stuff is represented properly.

Leakinglikeacolander · 19/05/2019 17:12

What @MissB83 said.
I thought he was terrible, his style was not suited to this subject matter. It was cringy in places.
I really hope the lady (whose name escapes me currently) who was so knocked out by the meds is on the mend.
It was heart breaking watching her.

user764329056 · 19/05/2019 18:09

Am not onto any Theroux documentaries anymore, used to like his as a presenter, not anymore

PerfectPeony2 · 21/05/2019 12:44

I’ve finally watched this on iplayer and wanted to see if there was a thread on it.

Personally I didn’t feel like it was intrusive, I think he did panic at times and try to counsel the patient (I think you do love him) when he shouldn’t have. As her feelings were valid and very real - but the doctor explained that to him when he admitted he found it hard to understand indifference to your own baby.

By going into the unit he has also shown how valuable they are which will (hopefully) lead to more funding. The mother of 3, that broke my heart. When she said I just see it all as ‘hard work’. That summed a lot of it up for me and I can definitely relate.

What brave women. I hope they will be proud of themselves for being so strong and able to be open about their illness, there is absolutely no reason why they would have to feel ashamed about showing it to their children in the future.

DarlingNikita · 21/05/2019 12:59

I think he did panic at times and try to counsel the patient (I think you do love him) when he shouldn’t have. As her feelings were valid and very real - but the doctor explained that to him when he admitted he found it hard to understand indifference to your own baby.

I actually thought this approach was good and valuable. I think Louis at these points was 'playing the part', if you will, of an average viewer. Many people, I suspect, don't very well understand PPP, and/or underestimate it. A response of 'of course you must love your baby' seems to me to be a very 'normal' and common one. By saying stuff like that he was speaking for us the viewer; and then of course the women themselves answered him, and the staff explained things to him from a clinical and professional point of view, which explored and (I hope) somewhat clarified those issues for a viewer who might find them hard to grasp.

PerfectPeony2 · 21/05/2019 13:15

DarlingNikita

No I totally agree with you. That’s what I like about LT- he is very genuine and not afraid to say what he is thinking (or what the viewer may be thinking). It felt a bit like he shouldn’t of said it, but I’m glad they corrected him and it got the point across really well in the end.

It’s a completely different subject but I watched his documentary on Autism which was brilliant. That one along with mothers on the edge I have found to be really honest and eye opening.

DarlingNikita · 21/05/2019 13:31

Sorry, Perfect, I know we were agreeing. I meant to say something along those lines but failed to!

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