This is
the documentary to show your family, friends, co-workers, and anyone else who thinks mold illness is either 'all in your head' or that it 'can't be that bad'.
As someone who's still in the trenches with severe and debilitating mold illness myself, I found this absolutely gut-wrenching to watch . . . and I certainly couldn't watch it twice.
But if anyone claims either to care about you, or that (in all their know-all arrogance) they "know what's wrong with you", this is the link to send them. Because - as you and I both know - they bloody well
don't. They have
no. fucking. idea.
It's agonising, fatiguing, life-robbing, confusing, resource-draining, personality-changing, despairing, distressing, and socially isolating. And there are further adjectives I could use if I wanted to think about it . . . those are just the ones I deal with on a day-to-day basis. And I've dealt with more.
This "movie" is now 10 years old, having been (as I understand it) produced in 2015. But its content and the insights it provides for the uninitiated, are as relevant as ever.
What does piss me off a bit, though, is that - while the movie finally ends up on a hopeful note (showing recoverees or in-progress recoverees) - there's no whisper of
how to get recovered. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming that's because the funding for the movie came from the "Bulletproof" brand . . . which seems to be a U.S.-based company that produces mold-free coffee, MCT oil, and other wellness support products, especially those related to the ketogenic diet (strongly advocated for mold-toxic individuals). I'm guessing their vested interest stopped short of specific recovery-related insights and advice.
But that could just be the mold-toxic cynic in me coming out . . . so, again, if I'm wrong, or if there's a Part 2, would someone out there please let me know.
Up to all the hopeful stuff at the very end, it's a distressing watch . . . most especially the comparison of brain (SPECT) scans by the internationally influential brain health expert, Dr Daniel Amen of Amen Clinics, who (a little too) chirpily provides an up-close-and-personal comparison of a mycotoxin-affected brain and a perfectly healthy brain. It's like the difference between a raisin and a big, soft, fluffy pillow. Guess which one you want?
Here's the online lead-in commentary for 'Moldy' (edited by me, so as not to breach copyright):
There are at least 45 million buildings in America with health-impacting levels of mold. (Some of the most dangerous species make their way into food.)
That means a one-in-three chance of exposure to toxic mold every time someone moves into a new home, apartment or office. Add to that possible exposures from your next food intake.
But this is an
epidemic that is, in large part, invisible - with, for example, high-impact images of post-disaster mold infestations representing the exception rather than the rule.
Most people only realise they’re living in a moldy home or working in a moldy building after going from doctor to doctor with symptoms they can’t explain (and that most doctors can't either, because they're ignorant of the issue); poisoned by mold spores and toxins trapped invisibly behind paint and drywall, circulating unseen through air conditioning and heating ducts.
It often takes mold victims years of suffering before finally discovering a someone – like Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Scott McMahon, Dr. Bill Rea – willing to tackle this threat head-on.
The movie's commentary goes on to laud the advice supposedly given by these high-profile experts, along with that of the recoverees featured . . . but, like I said (while there certainly are ways out of this living nightmare to be found), I don't see all that much advice in this movie.
That said, for the unprecedented value it offers in producing awareness alone, it's an absolutely invaluable production.
