This article focuses on people dealing with depression and feels uncomfortable addressing it. The main themes of Korean TV dramas are rom-com, comedy, crime, sci-fi, and time travelling with a splash of historical touch.
More or less, Korean dramas despite being highly addictive are the same, always the same. Speaking of something different, Netflix’s recently released drama serial ‘Doctor Slump’ just highlighted how important it is to talk about depression.
‘Doctor Slump’ is a romantic comedy about two former rivals who reunite and unexpectedly become each other’s light during the darkest period of their lives. Park Hyung Sik will star as Yeo Jung Woo, a star plastic surgeon whose thriving career suddenly falls into danger due to a strange medical accident, while Park Shin Hye will play Nam Ha Neul, an anesthesiologist suffering from burnout syndrome.
Ha-neul and Jeong-woo were high school rivals who despised each other and parted ways after high school. But when they are forced to quit their jobs as doctors they end up living together in a rooftop room.
Now, In the initial episodes, the doctor tells Ha-neul that she is suffering from depression which she denies initially and refuses to accept that she is suffering from any mental illness.
What captured my focus was how beautifully the doctor explained to the leading character that:
‘When you mess up with a leg, do you run? no. Do you put pressure on that specific leg? no. You just relax. Same goes with the messed up mind, you need to relax; slow down.’
The character Ha-neul is a complex one as this woman needs to be perfect and score high in everything, whether it is exams, drinking alcohol or being in an unhealthy competition, she just needs to be their ruling all the score. The drama highlights how a perfect doctor like Ha-neul can become a target of depression and when she ignores it, it becomes worse and starts affecting her physically.
The drama should be acknowledged for its best shot of showcasing one of the mental issues from which half of the world might be suffering in a very unique way which is depression, you do not need to be imperfect or rich or poor, it happens to you at any phase, just be prepared.
Last but not least, it’s fine to express and seek help.
