SAN DIEGO (MCT) — Invisible Children filmmaker Jason Russell, who created the viral “Kony 2012” video, will remain in the hospital for several weeks for what his wife described as “reactive psychosis.”
In a statement released Wednesday, his wife and other family members said they believe this condition caused him to act strangely last week, ranting and roaming around a San Diego street in the nude. The family said the treatment could take months.
They said doctors are treating Russell for “brief reactive psychosis, an acute state brought on by the extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration,” the family said. “Though new to us, the doctors say this is a common experience given the great mental, emotional and physical shock his body has gone through in these last two weeks.”
Russell, 33, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon by San Diego police after neighbors reported him running naked in the streets of a Pacific Beach neighborhood, pounding his fists on the sidewalk and shouting incoherently. Police took him to a mental health facility for observation. Police responded to “several callers (who) reported that the male removed his underwear and was nude, perhaps masturbating,” according to the police statement. By the time police arrived, the man was wearing underwear.
“The callers reported the underwear-clad male was in the street, interfering with traffic, screaming, yelling incoherently and pounding his fists on the sidewalk,” according to a statement released by police spokeswoman Lt. Andra Brown. “He continued to act in a bizarre and irrational manner.”
A statement by Russell’s wife, Danica, and other members of his family suggested the criticism of
the Invisible Children video about African militia leader Joseph Kony may have contributed to Russell’s bizarre behavior.
“Because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal and Jason took them very hard,” the statement said.
Among other things, critics said the video misstated the facts about the current level of violence in Uganda, Kony’s current whereabouts and the strength of his militia forces.
