TV One showcases minority mental health with The Secret She Kept
TV One is shedding light on mental health in the black community during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month with the premiere of its original movie, The Secret She Kept.
Inspired by the best-selling novel of the same name by NAACP Image Award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, The Secret She Kept immerses viewers in the story of a prominent family that lets shame, confusion and misunderstandings about mental illness send them down a tragic path.
Kyla Pratt stars as beautiful, high-powered attorney Tia Jiles, who has just married the man of her dreams, successful magazine executive Lance Kingston, and is on the brink of launching a major political campaign when a pattern of erratic behaviour uncovers her secret: she suffers from mental illness.
“So often, we trivialise that someone is just 'crazy' and we don't recognise that mental illness is real and relevant,” said Billingsley. “I wanted to show not only was this something that deserved our attention, but that we shouldn't be ashamed to seek help. If our bodies are sick, we get help. I wanted to de-stigmatise the shame that often keeps us from seeking treatment when our minds are sick. I am grateful The Secret She Kept has been turned into a movie. While the book did exceptionally well, the platform TV One provides will hopefully get more people talking about what so many people see as a dirty little secret."
Michelle Clancy | 05 July 2016
TV One is shedding light on mental health in the black community during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month with the premiere of its original movie, The Secret She Kept.
Inspired by the best-selling novel of the same name by NAACP Image Award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, The Secret She Kept immerses viewers in the story of a prominent family that lets shame, confusion and misunderstandings about mental illness send them down a tragic path.
Kyla Pratt stars as beautiful, high-powered attorney Tia Jiles, who has just married the man of her dreams, successful magazine executive Lance Kingston, and is on the brink of launching a major political campaign when a pattern of erratic behaviour uncovers her secret: she suffers from mental illness.
“So often, we trivialise that someone is just 'crazy' and we don't recognise that mental illness is real and relevant,” said Billingsley. “I wanted to show not only was this something that deserved our attention, but that we shouldn't be ashamed to seek help. If our bodies are sick, we get help. I wanted to de-stigmatise the shame that often keeps us from seeking treatment when our minds are sick. I am grateful The Secret She Kept has been turned into a movie. While the book did exceptionally well, the platform TV One provides will hopefully get more people talking about what so many people see as a dirty little secret."