6 Great Mental Health Moments in BoJack Horseman’s 6th Season
Bojack Horseman. Netflix Original Series.
BoJack Horseman is a weird, hilarious animated series that portrays mental health issues so realistically at times that you almost forget it takes place in a world full of talking animals. The newest season has some incredible mental health moments in it, but first, a quick nod to 3 perfect psychology-related Season 6 lines:
“Narcissus? I thought the painting was about me.” -BoJack Horseman
“I’m not a therapist…I’m a therapy horse, a subtle but legally important distinction.” -Doctor Champ
“You understand a joke about deflection is still a deflection, right?” -Doctor Champ
6 Great Mental Health Moments in BoJack Horseman’s 6th Season
1. Grounding Technique for Anxiety
Holly Hock starts having a panic attack at a party where she doesn’t know anyone. Peter approaches her and teaches her grounding, which is a therapeutic tool used to cope with anxiety. What makes the scene especially moving is that Peter sees someone he doesn’t know, shares a technique he learned in therapy, and says that he learned it from his psychiatrist without any shame.
2. Postpartum Mental Health
Caroline struggles with balancing work responsibilities, caring for a newborn, and sleep deprivation. The show beautifully illustrates this through multiple Caroline figures simultaneously and repeatedly doing tasks (e.g., changing diapers, shaking a rattle, making work calls). At the end of the episode, she turns to Vanessa Gekko and says, “Can I ask you something? So, there’s work, right? I mean work makes sense to me. And I’m good at it. I don’t feel that way about my baby. I don’t think I’m feeling what I’m supposed to feel. What I thought I would feel. I mean, I love her, of course I do. Of course, I love my daughter. But…I don’t know if I love her. I know I’m a terrible person for even thinking it, but…what if it never happens?” Many parents have these types of feelings after the arrival of a baby. Reacting to those thoughts with shame may contribute to postpartum anxiety and depression symptoms. Scenes like this help to normalize these emotions. Gekko also helpfully points out that Caroline is making sure that all of her baby’s needs are met and is therefore doing a great job.
3. Diagnosing Depression
Mr. Peanutbutter says to Joey Pogo, “Before I depart with you on a cross-country tour of speaking engagements as the quote-unquote ‘Face of Depression,’ there is something I feel I must get off my chest. I am not depressed.” Mr. Peanutbutter then picks up his glass, looks at it, and says, “Just as I suspected…half-full! I would be quite upset by this if I were at all prone to depression.” Pogo responds, “According to the literature for this tour that I did not read, but had my mom peruse and then paraphrase for me, people who seem happy can actually be the most depressed.” While some people conceal their depression, they definitely don’t feel happy on the inside. I like this scene so much, because it satirizes situations where someone who is vaguely familiar with a psychology-related term confidently applies a diagnosis and how that’s totally problematic.
4. Treatment Avoidance
Bojack asks Diane if she’s going to take antidepressants. She asks, “What’s the point?” Bojack replies, “Of antidepressants? I believe the point is to be anti-depressed.” Then, Diane shares why she’s reluctant to seek help, “Or you just flip over the nothing and underneath there’s more nothing.” Clients sometimes worry that therapy will lead to the discovery that they are beyond help. In depression’s faulty internal logic, the thought is that it’s better to feel down with a glimmer of hope that things might change rather than try treatment and feel devastated if it fails. I’m so happy Diane pushed through that and sought treatment.
5. Rehabilitation Centers & Platitudes
BoJack’s rehabilitation center, Pastiches, is extremely expensive, yet it offers treatments that are not evidence-based (e.g., sleep therapy, visiting therapy, plant therapy). Difficulties finding accessible and effective addiction treatment centers are real and deeply concerning, as you can read about in Vox and this New Yorker article. A second, much more lighthearted aspect of their portrayal includes poking fun at platitudes used by therapists. Doctor Champ is full of these sayings, “Life is precious. God is religious, or merely the idea of a human connection. Don’t do drugs. Say you’re sorry.” Therapists collect certain phrases, analogies, and acronyms that they repeat with clients, and it was funny to see this depicted in ridiculous extremes.
6. Treatment Termination
Doctor Champ recognizes that BoJack has gained new perspectives about his past, acquired coping skills, and that it’s time to conclude residential treatment. BoJack responds with fear about leaving and states that he wants to stay indefinitely. After Doctor Champ expresses a series of “wise” sayings to Joey Pogo, BoJack responds, “That’s the problem. When you say it in here, it all sounds easy. But I know that out there it’s hard and confusing.” I’ve heard clients express these sentiments in our sessions. It leads to important discussions about anticipating and overcoming obstacles.
Like many people ending treatment, BoJack lacks confidence about maintaining gains and confronting the consequences of his past behavior. However, the goal of therapy is to equip people with tools to live their lives. Like a good therapist (technically, a therapy horse), Doctor Champ reminds BoJack that he has a support system that he should ask for help. He also tells BoJack rather sternly to continue the recovery process by seeing a psychiatrist, attending AA meetings, or whatever else he needs to remain sober. BoJack then unintentionally thwarts Doctor Champ’s sobriety, which seems like a necessary twist for such a twisted show.
I appreciate this article, but I feel like some of the quotes you’re pulling have meanings deeper than simply therapy; in particular, they relate to meaning, to modern nihilism. The question of what’s the point of going through therapy and building this toolbox and becoming a person who can cope with adult existence when there’s no point to that existence? If you find a place where you can stand up and look at your life clear-eyed and unafraid, and what you see is someone who’s spent forty-plus years waiting for it to be Time To Get Something Done–and waiting not because of fear of moving, or incapability, but simply because nothing ever came along?
Like, maybe I have the tools to build a roof to keep the rain out, but it’s still raining out.Report
Thanks for reading, and I think your point is totally valid. I tended to focus through a simpler therapy lens here, but there is so much going on in the show that goes well beyond that, including the larger point you’re making.Report
I haven’t seen the show (and may not), but I enjoyed this post (and the last one I read, about the movie “Joker”).
Because I haven’t seen the show, I have a couple follow up questions about no. 6. Does Bojack (or any of the other characters) find themselves leaning too heavily on therapy, so that they want to keep doing it long after they need to? Conversely, do characters ever try to quit therapy only to be talked out of it by the therapist?
Of course, by asking these questions, I’m also fishing for your thoughts on terminating therapy, should you have any you wish to share. But if not, that’s okay.
(Finally, I should be clear about where I’m coming from. I have very mixed feelings about most forms of mental health therapy that I, as a layperson, am aware of. I’m also not 100% sure how well it works, or if it does work. There’s also a weird set of power relations. Some are acknowledged, and some not. There’s a social class issue involved, too. I’m not against therapy, however. I’ve been a client, and am not opposed to others doing it. I should add that if I “have” any bona fide mental illness, it’s probably sub-clinical. So obviously my mixed feelings might not scale with others’ experiences. Finally I should admit that I embrace certain attitudes toward science that other people sincerely believe are “anti-scientific.” I disagree with them, but acknowledge that I give that impression.)Report
Thank you, Gabriel – so glad you enjoyed the posts!
Most of the characters are pretty reluctant to engage in therapy, and we don’t see much therapy except for when BoJack is in rehab. He dislikes it at first, but then likes the routine, and enjoys staying away from his problems and the reminders of the horrible things he’s done in the past. I like that the therapist urges him out when he’s ready. He tells him to leave residential treatment, but encourages him to continue outpatient treatment (e.g., with a psychiatrist). The first part of treatment for him is helping him to be well, gain insight, and develop coping skills, but his therapist seems to recognize that staying any longer would be driven by BoJack’s desire for avoidance, which would be unhealthy.
I’m happy to share my thoughts on treatment termination – I co-wrote an article on it in grad school: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/eead/3954e38df2253faa5be0aaa0645793998fec.pdf. Basically, the gist is that a reasonable time for treatment termination is when goals have been met, there’s persistent symptom decrease that’s stable over time, life quality and meaning improve, functioning and relationships improve, and the person can attribute this to new skills learned or changes made (rather than random fluctuation). Another big sign is if they effectively cope with challenges during previously high-risk times (e.g., did they make it through a stressful situation without drinking because of their new skills? did they manage their anger in a healthy way as opposed to previous times?).
These are good thoughts to have about the complexities of therapy, and I appreciate you raising them. I think that therapy effectiveness varies a lot depending on the person and the situation and type of treatment, but that it can help people make desired, positive changes in their lives. I think that therapists vary in their ability and fit with clients and that you’re right that there are power and other types of dynamics therapists should be aware of and address, as relevant.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments – I hope I addressed some of them, but if not, feel free to let me know.Report
Thanks for taking the time to answer so thoroughly. I’ll definitely try to check out that article you linked to.Report
You’re welcome – thanks for the great questions.Report
I am very much not a fan of the show Big Mouth but I (hate)read a synopsis of one of the episodes that I found surprisingly moving.
The “Depression Kitty” is a giant cat that shows up and says “hey, we’ll just sit in a dark room and have half-melted ice cream and we’ll turn Friends on and we don’t even have to face the television… we can just listen to Friends and drink our ice cream.”
And, at first, this is vaguely comforting. Then the character wants to stop but the giant cat just lays on top of the character and the character has to call out to (real) friends for help.
Which was surprisingly insightful.Report
Wow – that sounds really moving. I haven’t watched the show, but I would like to see that episode. Thanks!Report