The number of people dealing with mental health issues in the work- place is growing rapidly. In GLEICH UND ANDERS (SIMPLY DIFFERENT), we are given a direct insight into the challenges facing people affected by mental health problems in their jobs and at the workplace, in the form of intensely personal and authentic accounts of their experiences with employers, social security services, doctors and institutions.

We meet individuals who, in the face of marginalisation and adversity, have taken their lives into their own hands – whether by starting their own business, nding a new job, engaging in further training or simply nd- ing happiness with a new love in a jointly purchased home. Alongside all the optimism, the lm also shows us how, for these people, many things will never return to the way they were before the breakdown, and that sometimes a loss of professional, nancial or social status must be accepted. The perspective of relatives and employers brings additional depth to these complex and poignant portraits of lives affected by mental illness.

“IT STOPS YOU DEAD IN YOUR TRACKS. YOU’RE STANDING THERE, TERRIFIED, AND YOU THINK: I JUST CAN’T GO ON.”

Therese Pavesi