What About Bob Movie

Ben is 23 and had his schizoaffective disorder under control until his grandfather got diagnosed with cancer and passed away. His grandfather death causes Ben to relapse. His mental disorder started at the age of 18 but was well controlled now after his relapse, Ben claims that God talks to him and blames him for that his family is going through. After two weeks of falling into depression Ben considers going to psychology and therapy. His doctor recommended ben to go out once a week and interact with others, following the doctor’s order made Ben become more stable.

Dr. Marvin should have been more straightforward with his family about the importance of being overly friendly to a patient and the implications that could follow. Boundaries In the beginning, Dr. Leo Marvin tries to set clear boundaries with Bob in a calm manner, but it does not work. In observing the conversations between Bob and Dr. Leo Marvin, it seemed like the therapist was in too much of a rush to start his vacation and not enough time to really set up Bob to feel prepared with a plan for his month departure.

During their first therapy session, Bob listed out his problems. These issues ranged from turrets to cardiac arrest and were summed up with Bob’s mindset that “If I fake it, then I don’t have it” (Bob, What About Bob?). Afterwards, Dr. Marvin diagnosis Bob with acute separation anxiety and a multiphobic personality. This diagnosis is accurate and Bob’s behaviors show it; he feels like he has to see his therapist every day, he is scared to leave his apartment, or to be in a crowded room.

Before seeing Dr. Marvin, Bob has been subject to a variety of therapies. The most noticeable therapy being drug therapy. Bob talks about having Valium, Halcyon, and Seconol, all anti-anxiety drugs and all indicative of biological therapy. Bob also seems familiar with psychodynamic therapy from his "free associations from childhood" he does for Dr. Marvin. The main therapy focus seems to be on "Baby Steps" therapy, which is similar to desensitization - take small steps in order to overcome big fears. Dr. Marvin also attempts some cognitive therapy by giving Bob a prescription to "take a vacation from his problems." This is supposed to allow Bob to change the way he thinks about his problems so that they are not a crisis any longer and he can just forget about them, because he is on vacation from those problems. Bob also attempts some of his own therapies. "I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful" repeated over and over again by Bob is his own attempt at cognitive therapy and changing the way he thinks about how he feels. Bob also uses behavioral therapy in exposing himself to water by sailing. Granted, he is chained to the boat and is wearing a life preserver, but he is learning to desensitize

What About Bob is a movie about a man who has many psychological problems. He is not the only one with problems though. The movie What About Bob? shows many psychological disorders in a comedic light. From Agoraphobia, or the fear of open spaces, to Paranoid Personality Disorder. This causes people to suffer paranoia or have a relentless mistrust and suspicion of anybody other than themselves, normally when there is no reason to fear or be suspicious of anyone at all. Most of the characters in the movie express at least one major psychological disorder, and some even express two or more.

Andy seems to be showing signs of psychosis. Immediately I saw that he was very paranoid and suspicious of the people around him. The content of what he is saying does not make sense as he is accusing his roommates of putting voices in his brain. He believes his roommates are out to get him and fears they are listening to him. I noticed that his eyes wonder and he lacks eye contact. He seems to have lost all relationship with reality and experiences auditory hallucinations. Andy states that the thoughts in his head are planted from his roommates which are being tracked through a device they placed in his brain. The patient seems to be confused and suspicious as to why his friends would do this to him. The delusions and hallucinations seem very

Craig willingly went to a psychiatric facility to seek help for his disorder. Known to him, he thought it was just going to be an instant treatment or prescription of some drugs, while also expressing that he didn’t want to be seen in a psychiatric facility by his friends (It’s Kind of a funny story, 2010). It was to help him participate in a series of therapy in order to help him out with his disorder, so he needed to be checked in and spend at least five days before he could be discharged. The number one major type of therapy involved a one on one session with a therapist— which is known as psychotherapy. In a one on one session with Dr. Minerva who was his therapist, he was able to talk about the things he was really going through, open up about his family, friends and possibly help him figure out the genesis of what created the most stress. Another type of therapy that was used to help Craig was a group therapy. This involved him being a group with

Bob is now unable to comprehend what has just happened and is angered. This causes the friendship to become very tense and a conflict arises between the two.

Bob was always stereotyped as the Soc whose life was perfect, but that was his downfall because he had everything and just wanted to have something out of stereotype he lived in.

As I watched the movie “What About Bob?” I noticed that there were a variety of different phobias and disorders that the main character “Bob” had such as panic attacks, dependent personality disorder and even obsessive compulsive disorder. Although these disorders were prominent throughout the film the two that stood out to me the most were Agoraphobia and Personality Dependent Disorder.

The first (of many) answer(s), to this question is that Robert Paulson is one of the few characters that gave the narrator an emotional reaction. As stated above, Robert Paulson is emasculated, both physically and emotionally. He serves as a bridge between the feminine and masculine, and as a result, he seems to be more in touch with his feminine side. In fact, Big Bob is one of the only characters that helped the narrator cope with his insomnia. He allows the narrator a chance to cry, hence allowing him to vent his emotions in a safe environment, and allow him to fall asleep at night. Big Bob provides the narrator with the emotional support and comfort he was never able to have. It would be a stretch to say that they were friends, but there was an undeniable bond between the two characters. That bond allowed for them to cry in each other’s arms for mutual support. Part of the reason that Robert Paulson is given a full name is because he is important to the narrator.

Mr. Parrish: Mr. Parrish’s perspective was to raise his son to be a man. He wants he son to conduct himself, but he is correcting his behavior by physically beating Bob.

Dr. Marvin broke a lot of ethical boundaries when he hit his breaking point and attacked Bob at the surprise birthday party. Then he ties Bob up and puts bags of bombs around his head. Dr. Marvin tells Bob that it’s a new type of treatment. By

Bob contrasts with the gay characters. He represents a gender binary of masculinity. Bob is an open-minded mechanic that takes a liking to Bernadette. Bob travels with the three on their journey after Priscilla brakes down. He was married to a mail-order wife, a Filipino prostitute that left him during the movie stating that he wasn’t a good husband.

The negative self- cencept created by accusations of lying and the physical altercations/ lack of realtionship with his brothers could lead to a dimished sense of self- worth, leading to Bob’s feelings of depression. Murdock wrote that “depression, for example, would be seen as probably involving a negative self concept that resulted from an excess of conditions of worth” (159). This indicates that Bob’s negative sense of worth could absolutely be the cause of his depressive tendancies, as well as his constant state of sadness. This sadness and anxiety (as mentioned above, where Bob sees where his problems are affecting his relationships) are the cause of his inability to hold down a job, have a stable relationship with his girlfriend, and avoid interactions with his father and brothers.