Rufus May
Rufus worked as a clinical psychologist for twenty years in the NHS in England. He is currently working in Bolton in an inpatient setting and with his partner offering training and consultancy in holistic approaches to mental health and wellbeing. His interest in recovery from psychosis and other difficulties is rooted in his own experiences of psychosis when he was 18 and subsequent recovery journey. He is in the process of seeking a publisher for a book he has written about his life and work. He is interested in helping to create alternative understandings to medical labelling and the heavy handed use of psychiatric drugs, which is still the dominant approach today. He believes everybody can flourish, grow and develop if they get the right support network around them that they are willing to invest in. His work is part of a wider movements in mental health that includes the hearing voices movement, community development approaches and other self help and holistic health movements.
The Doctor Who Hears Voices
The film follows Ruth’s unorthodox journey with Rufus as she strives to combat the voice and regain her job.
Rufus May is a maverick psychologist. He believes there is no such thing as schizophrenia, that medication can destroy lives and that there’s nothing wrong with hearing voices. Rufus is an authority on the subject. He was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia aged 18.
In this powerful and thought-provoking film, BAFTA-award winning director Leo Regan, takes a challenging look at how society deals with mental illness, using an innovative mix of contemporaneous documentary footage and dramatized scenes. To protect her anonymity, Ruth is played by BAFTA-nominated actress Ruth Wilson and some details have been changed.
With figures suggesting as many as one in four people suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives, the film prompts the question, how far can people who hear voices also continue to live a normal life?