New Documentary Addresses Navy SEALS, PTSD, and Addiction

In Waves and War tells the story of Navy SEALS who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan time and time again, only to return stateside and experience a different type of war: a battle on their bodies and brains. The documentary, which premiered at the DOC NYC film festival, reveals how nightmares, explosive outbursts, severe pain, alcoholism and depression consumed the lives of these wartime heroes. Hopelessness and suicidal thoughts were the only way out, until they discovered an experimental treatment called ibogaine.

Directors Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen describe the arduous physical and mental demands of training endured by these highly specialized servicemembers through the lenses of three SEALS, Marcus Capone, Matty Roberts and DJ Shipley. Through interviews, flashbacks and animation, we learn about the devastating impacts of multiple deployments to combat zones on the physical and psychological wellbeing of these SEALS, some of whom were only 17 when they first joined.