( CNN ) -- Jason Russell , who directed a documentary about a notorious Ugandan warlord that went viral , will remain hospitalized `` a number of weeks '' to recover from `` reactive psychosis , '' his family said Wednesday . Russell , 33 , was picked up by police last Thursday after several people reported a man running along a San Diego , California , street in his underwear , screaming , sources said . `` Jason 's incident was in no way the result of drugs or alcohol in his body , '' the family statement said . `` The preliminary diagnosis he received is called brief reactive psychosis , an acute state brought on by extreme exhaustion , stress and dehydration . '' Russell 's family said his doctors told them it was `` a common experience given the great mental , emotional and physical shock his body has gone through in these last two weeks . '' `` Even for us , it 's hard to understand the sudden transition from relative anonymity to worldwide attention -- both raves and ridicules , in a matter of days , '' their statement said . The filmmaker `` has a long way to go , but we are confident that he will make a full recovery , '' his family said . `` He is , and will remain , under hospital care for a number of weeks ; and after that , the recovery process could take months before he is fully able to step back into his role with Invisible Children , '' it said . `` During that time , we will focus not on a speedy recovery , but a thorough one . '' Russell is one of the founders of the San Diego-based nonprofit group Invisible Children , which produced the half-hour film about warlord Joseph Kony . `` Kony 2012 '' skyrocketed to popularity on YouTube , propelled by thousands of posts on Twitter and Facebook , garnering nearly 85 million views since its March 5 release . The popularity of the film led to a flurry of media appearances for Russell and his fellow Invisible Children co-founders and prompted scrutiny from some who argued that the social media frenzy was too little , too late . The group has said it hopes the film and other efforts will make Kony a household name and drum up international support to halt the killings , rapes , abuses and abductions committed by his group , the Lord 's Resistance Army , in central Africa . Kony , who has operated in central Africa for two decades , is wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court . In October , the United States sent 100 combat-equipped troops on a mission to kill or capture Kony . `` We thought a few thousand people would see the film , but in less than a week , millions of people around the world saw it . While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony , it also brought a lot of attention to Jason -- and , 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 . Ben Keesey , the group 's chief executive , issued a statement Friday confirming that Russell was hospitalized for `` exhaustion , dehydration and malnutrition . '' `` The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us , Jason especially , and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday , '' Keesey said . CNN 's Rachel Wells contributed to this report .
Witnesses say Jason Russell ran along a street in his underwear , screaming . He was shot and killed by police officers who were responding to the scene of an armed robbery at a nearby convenience store. Russell founded Invisible Children , which made the film about warlord Joseph Kony . His `` Kony 2012 '' video has nearly 85 million YouTube views .