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“A Revolving Door,” a documentary film about the struggles of a family dealing with the mental illness and drug addiction of a young Southern Californian, will be screened at the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Community Forum on Friday, Nov. 19.
The film shows the frustrations, helplessness, courage and resilience of 33-year-old Venturan Tommy Lennon and his family as he is stuck for 10 years in a revolving door of homelessness, drug abuse, mental institutions and jails.
Debbie and Tom Lennon believe that their son’s manic depression may have been triggered by a traumatic brain injury suffered while surfing. In the film, the young man, aware of his mental illness, says, “Like, I don’t take any pharmaceutical medication. I believe in the other kind of medication.”
The film, presented in association with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Ventura County affiliate, raises questions about how the criminal justice system deals with the mentally ill.
Debbie Lennon, active in NAMI, has become an outspoken advocate for those who suffer traumatic brain injury, mental illness, drug addiction and homelessness. “Our hearts are broken every day that we deal with this; it’s all so vulnerable,” Tom Lennon says in the documentary.
Debbie and Tom Lennon and representatives from NAMI will be available to answer questions about mental illness realities in Ventura County after the 7:30 p.m. showing of the movie. The event is free and open to the public; donations will be welcome.
The Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is located at 3327 Old Conejo Road in the Songbird Office Park in Newbury Park.
For information, call (805) 374-9818 or visit www.forum.cvuuf.org.