SAN DIEGO — “Kony 2012” filmmaker Jason Russell will remain hospitalized for several weeks as he recovers from “brief reactive psychosis,” his family said in a statement Wednesday.
The 33-year-old was found by police in his hometown of San Diego on March 15 naked, ranting at motorists — a number of whom phoned 911 — and beating on the sidewalk.
His bizarre behavior was attributed to the stress of the global reaction to the film he made with Invisible Children colleagues about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, who led the Lord’s Resistance Army and is accused of recruiting children into sexual slavery and using them to fight against Uganda’s government.
In a statement quoted by media outlets in California, Russell’s wife Danica and other relatives said, “We would, again, like to make it clear that Jason’s incident was in no way the result of drugs or alcohol in his body.
“The preliminary diagnosis he received is called brief reactive psychosis, an acute state brought on by extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration … 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.
“Jason will get better. He has a long way to go, but we are confident that he will make a full recovery. He is, and will remain, under hospital care for a number of weeks; and after that, the recovery process could take months.”
“Kony 2012” has been viewed more than 80 million times on YouTube in little more than two weeks, was touted on Twitter by a number of celebrities and drew both Kony and Russell’s San Diego-based humanitarian group into the spotlight.
Amongst widespread support, it also drew strong criticism, notably from within Uganda, where many said it was inaccurate and too late to benefit Kony’s victims.