Under mounting pressure at work and in his personal life, a successful journalist "burns out." The Myths of Mental Illness tells the story of his breakdown and traces his battle to regain his life's meaning. Interviews with prominent psychiatrists who hold opposing views of mental illness are intercut with the powerful drama. The film raises questions about coping with stressful life and work situations; mental-health and illness; psychiatry, drug therapy, and pyschotherapy; the healing potential in human relationships; human freedom and dignity; technology and the invasion of privacy; and media integrity.