When director and screenwriter Addison Heimann went home at Christmas time three years ago, he saw his mother experiencing a manic episode. Having dealt with his mother’s bipolar disorder since he was 12 years old, Heimann had grown numb to her outbursts, smoking weed to cope with the emotional fallout. When we went back to LA, he began to experience physical manifestations of his childhood trauma.

Heimann’s latest film, Hypochondriac, which made its SXSW debut this past weekend, tells the story of a Hispanic potter who loses function of his body as a result of childhood trauma. The film is largely inspired by Heimann’s own experience with his mother.

“In the first scene, his mother almost killed him in a state of psychosis,” Heimann tells Unleashed LGBTQ. “Now he's in the 30s, living his best life, when his mother starts coming back into his life by leaving these very mysterious voicemails. At the same time, he gets injured at work, and the two events kind of conflate together.”

Heimann experienced a similar breakdown three years ago, following his Christmas visit home. Upon his return to LA, Heimann experienced multiple ailments, including nausea, dizziness, head fog, and arm tingling.

“I did this smartest thing I've ever done in my life,” Heimann says sarcastically, “I visited Dr. Google, which, you know, is accurate and doesn't make anything up. WebMD is our friend, right? Dr. Google told me that I was dying of ALS. My friend's brother had just died of ALS, and I suffer from intrusive thoughts and OCD. I latched on to that immediately, and no one was going to tell me otherwise. I was convinced that this was happening.”

At the time, Heimann was working as an assistant at a production studio. Determined to prove to himself that he wasn’t dying of ALS, he tried to carry heavy objects up multiple flights of stairs, performing functions outside of his job description. He later developed a repetitive strain injury in his arms.

To combat the pain, Heimann did “the dumbest and most LA thing” he’s ever done, and scheduled a holistic massage.

“After that session, my tendons would swell,” Heimann recalls, “to the point where it's too painful to lift a fork, too painful to shave, I can't type, I can't text, I can't do anything. My arms basically lose function.”

This was the beginning of a three-month recovery journey for Heimann, spending 12 hours a day on the couch, browsing Netflix. He would later develop a knee injury while using a stationary bike.

He eventually began physical therapy, and once he got to the point where he could lift five pounds, he felt his mental state improving. This improvement was short-lived, as the head fog, nausea, and dizziness returned. He spoke with his aunt, who is a doctor, and she told him he may have multiple sclerosis.

Heimann then put out calls and emails to several neurologists, to no avail.

“Nobody could see me for like, three months, and I was like, ‘Ok well, I'd rather know if I'm dying now,’” Heimann recalls. “I found a neurologist who had just opened up and she was like, ‘Tell me what's going on.’ I just send her my dissertation of everything that's going on. I was just like, ‘You know what, I haven't told anybody the whole story. I'm just going to fucking do it.”

Fortunately, the neurologist took him seriously. Heimann successfully scheduled an appointment for an MRI test on his muscles, the results of which proved surprising.

“I get all the results back,” Heimann says. “They come back clear, and all my symptoms go away.”

Heimann still deals with the trauma of his mother’s violent outbursts every day of his life, but credits the support of his community for helping him get through it.

With Hypochondriac, Heimann hopes viewers will feel encouraged to ask for and accept help.

“This is the story of how I got from the worst possible time in my life to accepting help,” Heimann says. “I don't know what exists after that. All I know is that we're always going to carry our stuff with us but it's manageable. There are going to be hiccups and slips along the way. But as long as we keep our community together and push forward, we’ll be ok.”

Hypochondriac will screen Tuesday, March 15 at 3:15 PM and Thursday, March 17 at 9:45 PM in Theatre D at Alamo Drafthouse Lamar

The True Story Behind Addison Heimann's 'Hypochondriac'