According to the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, since 1991 the Office of Civil Rights Education has received twenty complaints of colleges violating students’ civil rights in relation to mental health. Tragedies like the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, have led to stereotyping students living with mental illness as dangerous. In her documentary feature debut, Aja Espinosa uses her own story to explore the consequences and frequent punishments students receive after seeking professional help for their mental health.
As she navigates through her junior year of college, Aja is confronted with self-stigma, stigmas from her boyfriend and institutional stigma. While working as a Resident Assistant, Aja was denied a reasonable accommodation as oulined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The story explores the devastating affects stigma has on those living with mental illness and the strength it takes to continue to get up every day. The Carousel Never Stops Turning is a different account rarely shown of a person living with mental illness.
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