It's four days before the episode so I wanted to jot down my thoughts on Rebecca's mental illness. Before I start, I want to say that mental illnesses are linked with each other so many times people can have multiple diagnoses linked to them. I think it's very obvious that Rebecca has Depression and Anxiety. The "not so talked about" mental illness I think she has is Borderline Personality Disorder.That is the next episode— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) November 11, 2017
Depression: Rebecca was so drawn to the "Are You Happy?" Butter ad because she was deeply unhappy. When her "quack" psychiatrist in NY gave her such emotion-numbing pills, it made her feel nothing. Depression can make people feel empty, and these pills probably increased her emptiness. Right before Rebecca's suicide attempt, she was severely depressed. She didn't wash her hair/bathe, and didn't care about what was happening in the outside world. A symptom of depression is loosing interest in things that you used to care about. She also slept A LOT which is another symptom of Depression. She felt hopeless because she felt she had severely burned all her bridges and she didn't have anything to look forward to. On the plane, she mentioned that she felt too tired to do ANYTHING; fatigue is also another symptom.
Anxiety: Her anxiety can be seen in the song "We Tapped That Ass," where the ghosts of her too ex-boyfriends haunt her. Anxiety can also be seen manifested in Young Rebecca after she reveals all her secrets to Josh at the church. You can see her walking into her job talking to herself, distracted, and visible anxious.
Borderline Personality Disorder: This is a very interesting disorder. Google defines the disorder as "A mental disorder characterized by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships." I am not great at explaining the mental illnesses so I will just list some symptoms and explain how they relate to our dear Rebecca. These symptoms come from HelpGuide.com
Fear of Abandonment: Rebecca has a fear of abandonment due to her father and Robert leaving her. It is also based on her mother who wasn't a stable, loving figure. People with BPD desperately do whatever they can to stop the abandonment. For example, Rebecca tried so hard to make her father love her all through her life, She also impulsively believed she was pregnant to convince Josh to stay when she felt him drifting away from her.
Unstable Relationships: HelpGuide.com states, "People with BPD tend to have relationships that are intense and short-lived. You may fall in love quickly, believing each new person is the one who will make you feel whole, only to be quickly disappointed." Need I say more? This is exactly the premise of the show.
Unclear or unstable self-image: Rebecca does have an unstable self-image and you see that in her songs. One second she is singing about how she is the "Villain in her own story" or a "Stupid Bitch." The next she is singing about how two men are in love with her in "Love Triangle." The reason why she moved all the way to West Covina is because she wanted to change her image as a ruthless, unhappy lawyer to a happy, beach gal.
Impulsive, self-destructive behaviors: HelpGuide.com states, "If you have BPD, you may engage in harmful, sensation-seeking behaviors, especially when you’re upset." Case in point: Rebecca sleeping with Greg's dad impulsively because she was upset Josh never wanted to see her again. Honestly, I think Rebecca's impulsiveness is one of the most glaring symptom of whatever mental illness she does have. Rebecca impulsively spends money whether its putting 10,000 in a car to win a case or spending 10,000 to move up her wedding. She impulsively kisses (Nathaniel) or sleeps with people (Greg's Dad) even when she knows she should not. She impulsively yells at Josh in front of a church and reveals all her secrets which damages her in the end.
Self-harm: suicide attempt.
Feeling suspicious or out of touch with reality: Being out of touch with reality can be seen in how Rebecca does go into a fantasy world and imagines all these musical numbers. In addition, we saw real paranoia and suspicion when her friends did that intervention in S2E5. She accused Nathaniel of scheming with her friends behind her back which is a really huge jump (and also not true!) She also impulsively and quickly assumed that her friends wanted nothing to do with her after learning about her Robert's history. She assumed that her friends and mom were scheming to put her into a mental institution. She assumed that the no longer loved or cared about her.
In conclusion, these are my feelings towards Rebecca's diagnosis. I'm sure whatever Rachel and Aline have researched for Rebecca will be the true diagnosis, but I just want to let you know my thoughts!
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Well you were right on the money huh?
ReplyDeletewow, they were.
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