PIP, POP and a Pandemic – A film to be seen.
Still image from trailer for ‘PIP, POP and a Pandemic’.
This year I have had the pleasure of twice seeing a film produced and directed by Tracy Willits of York St John University that penetratingly documents the contemporary experiences of people living with schizophrenia. PIP, POP and a Pandemic (1) provides a warm, human, and moving account of a group of families in the northeast of England whose family members are facing the difficulties associated with a severe and enduring mental illness.
The documentary focuses on two couples, Pauline and George both of whom have used mental health services for many years and who have married later in life, and Ed and his wife Catarina who has a long history of psychosis. The film begins before the COVID-19 pandemic and follows the couples through the pandemic and afterwards.
This powerful film not only draws the viewer into the lives of the characters – you get a real feel for their daily encounters and their inner experiences – it also brings out several key adversities that commonly run through the lives of people with long-term mental health conditions.
For many years Pauline has received Disability Living Allowance (DLA) but, because of changes to the disability benefits system, has to apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP). As with many people with long-term mental ill-health who migrated from DLA to PIP (2), she is refused PIP, resulting in a loss of income.
Ed, whose Croatian wife Catarina has live in the UK for 26 years, cannot get Carers Allowance. They live in a precarious state, permanently bobbing around the breadline trying to make ends meet. Ed is a talented musician – his guitar playing is used as the soundtrack to the film. Previously a guitar teacher, he gave up tutoring to look after Catarina. Later, in the course of the pandemic they experience harassment by local youths on more than one occasion. Ed speaks emotionally about the intimidation and considers that the two of them will have to move to protect his wife.
The pandemic affects both couples. Ed and Catarina first experience persecution during this time. Pauline and George have to live separately, causing them both isolation and distress. There is an especially poignant scene when Pauline and George meet up as the COVID restrictions are relaxed, which is mixed with humour as they steal a kiss through their masks. Sadly, after lockdown Pauline develops a late-stage cancer which she views with a touching fortitude. She dies four months later, aged 57. George dies soon after, aged 66 years. Common to many other people with long-term mental ill-health, whose life spans may be 15 to 20 years less than the average, Pauline and George die prematurely.
Tracy Willits has created a very human account of the lives and circumstances of people with long-term psychoses. Part love story, part human tragedy, by focusing on real lives it creates not only a tale that everyone can empathize with, but one that exposes some of the very real barriers and challenges faced by vulnerable people in Britain today. In October 2024 I chaired a session at a Royal College of Psychiatrists conference at which we showed the film. The film chimed with the audience, provoking a lively discussion. We were all moved by the content and, whilst we have never met Pauline and George nor Ed and Catarina, we all recognized them and their predicaments.
In contemporary Britain, many people with disabilities and long-term conditions related to mental ill-health are excluded from the mainstream and face an often punitive and unfair welfare benefits system and may fall through the social safety net (3). They also live shorter lives. This film brings these matters to the fore and deserves to be seen more widely. It implicitly calls for action to improve the health and quality of life for people with mental health conditions and their families as well as the quality of the health, social and other public services that support them. PIP, POP and a Pandemic has already had one showing in Parliament – let’s hope that the government are watching and listening.
References
PIP, POP and a Pandemic - Download.
Pybus K, Pickett KE, Prady SL, Lloyd C, Wilkinson R. Discrediting experiences: outcomes of eligibility assessments for claimants with psychiatric compared with non-psychiatric conditions transferring to personal independence payments in England. BJPsych Open 2019; 5: e19.
Boardman, J. (2020) Dismantling the social safety net: social security reforms, disability and mental health conditions. BJPsych Bulletin 44, 208–212.
