Korean dramas take lead in raising awareness for mental health

While “Daily Dose of Sunshine″ received rave reviews from viewers around the world, how accurate was the drama's portrayal of the aforementioned mental illnesses?

A scene from Netflix's “Daily Dose of Sunshine″ (2023) starring actor Park Bo-young, left [NETFLIX]

On one end, as Korean culture reaches new heights of popularity worldwide, breaking records previously held by non-Asian individuals, the other side of the coin reflecting Korean society back home is painted with falling birth rates and the highest suicide rate worldwide. For the latter, Korea has been in a consistent top place among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development nations for nearly 20 years.

Economic growth surely is not proportional to individual happiness and life satisfaction.

While the rate of foreigners turning to Korea for tourism and education is at an all-time high, showing no signs of going down, it is important to understand why the country's residents don't feel as much at home. Taking a step forward in that direction is Korea's entertainment industry with K-dramas that focus on bringing awareness and education about mental health and mental illnesses, opening the door for dialogue.

A recent example is the K-drama "Daily Dose of Sunshine" (2023), which premiered on Netflix last November. The series climbed to No. 1 on Netflix's chart in Korea just a week after its release on Nov. 3 and also landed at 10th globally, according to streaming service aggregator FlixPatrol. Starring Park Bo-young as a psychiatric ward nurse with a high level of empathy toward her patients, "Daily Dose of Sunshine" captures heartwarming stories of characters suffering from mental health disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and others.

While the drama received rave reviews from viewers around the world, how accurate was the drama's portrayal of the aforementioned mental illnesses?

Jeanie Chang, a Korean American licensed marriage and family therapist and global mental health educator [JEANIE CHANG]

Jeanie Chang, a Korean American licensed marriage and family therapist and mental health educator, helped answer this question with her honest view on the show's attempt at increasing awareness. Chang is also known on social media under her brand "Noona's Noonchi" and her podcast of the same name, in which she talks about mental health. She has over 68,000 followers on Instagram and over 18,500 on TikTok.

In a pursuit to find a fun and interesting way to destigmatize mental health, Chang, a devout fan of K-dramas, knew that the power of storytelling can be used for the greater good by infusing lessons from K-dramas into her content, which is a huge hit among social media users.

The Korea JoongAng Daily sat down with Chang for a Zoom interview to hear her thoughts on the matter.

Chang said one of the things the show gets right is when explaining the symptoms of mental health conditions in a very sensible and simple way for the viewer, helping people know what signs to look for or when to seek help.

"Everybody's unique, so sometimes behavior comes out differently," she said. "Some people who are depressed are not necessarily going to be looking sad all the time. They could be angry. Every person will have a different experience with their diagnosis. So I think that's what they did well, showing different types of scenarios, which I think do happen."

Park's character's personal crisis was a surprising development in the storyline of "Daily Dose of Sunshine" that most viewers, including Chang, did not see coming. She sees this as the showrunner's attempt at providing viewers with a holistic view of how mental illness can impact anyone. Being a doctor or a nurse does not make one immune from illnesses. In fact, one only becomes more susceptible to stress. The depiction of her crisis managed to bring up another common aspect of denial of one's own mental illness, making this development yet another exemplary example of the show's dedication to keeping the story rooted in reality.

There is an unnerving stigma associated with mental illness in most societies, Chang continued. After a mental illness diagnosis, people often assume that the person is going to be stuck in a psychiatric hospital for the rest of their life. In Chang's view, the drama painted a more realistic picture where patients get admitted, get better with medication and care and then get discharged. Of course, there are some unfortunate cases in the show where the integration back to everyday life did not go too well, which is a realistic representation, she added.

A scene from Netflix's “Daily Dose of Sunshine″ (2023), starring actors Park Bo-young, right, and Lee Jung-eun [NETFLIX]

Helping people get back to everyday life

In real life, people are not necessarily well-equipped to handle situations when somebody they know is struggling with a mental illness or is trying to get back into their daily routine after taking time off due to a mental health crisis. This can end up in awkward encounters or saying inappropriate things, even with good intentions.

Chang shares her expertise on how to deal with such situations gracefully.

"It's very important to let them lead. Don't try to lead them with 'How can I help you?'s," she said. "Give them the credit that they [deserve]. When there's too much cautiousness, you make it worse by trying too hard to cater to them. If you sense that they are reaching out to you, then you give them that care. But if they say that they're good, then follow their lead. Of course, give them an affirmation as their friends or family, but don't be weird. Too much sensitivity is actually more stigmatizing."

Talking about her platform, "Noona's Noonchi," Chang said, "When I'm on social media, I can't use a real-life client example because it is confidential, but I can use K-drama examples, like scenes from tvN's 'Our Blues' [2022] being a great example of what depression looks like."

Looking at K-dramas from this refreshing perspective is Chang's creative angle to make mental health conversations more approachable for all ages.

A scene from tvN's ″Our Blues″ (2022) [TVN]

Fierce competition is the leading cause

Excessive competition in Korean society is often cited as one of the leading causes of mental health struggles.

"The pressure is intense," Chang said. "I talk to a lot of young folks and adults in Korea. The pressure surrounding financial success, academic success and always having to show yourself as a successful person is a part of Korean society. And it can be very distressing when it crosses a line. When it gets to the point that it's all you can focus on, you end up being lonely because you cannot focus on relationships, or the stress is so intense that you feel like a failure because you did not do well on one test."

Since these serve as contributors to the high suicide rate, Chang's wish for Korean society is simple — acceptance of being normal, a state where not everybody has to be successful. She said Korea should encourage open conversations among people with a sense of community and foster a culture of acceptance.

A scene from Netflix's ″The Glory″ (2022–23) [NETFLIX]

Victim blaming is still rampant

While the entertainment industry has been making efforts to encourage dialogue on the issue, unfortunately for people who speak up against their ill experiences in a conservative society like Korea, victim blaming and shaming are often a common reaction.

A prime example is the Netflix series "The Glory" (2022-23), whose roaring success united both Korean and worldwide audiences in anger toward the perpetrators and empathy towards the real-life victim on whom the story was based on. However, soon in Korea, victim-blaming started plunging the internet, such as questioning the victim's intention in not telling her stories before.

Chang believes that victim blaming is an Asian trait stemming from the fact that nobody wants to talk about uncomfortable situations or conflicts.

"A family that fights is actually normal. Unless you're robots, you're supposed to fight," Chang added, referring to her personal interactions with Korean individuals who expressed having conflict as a big deal.

Government's efforts

On the brighter side, Korea, a society that has historically never talked about mental illness, is now making efforts to provide more support to those who need more mental health resources. The Korean government recently announced plans to give access to counseling to 1 million people by 2027, along with bringing down the frequency of mental health checkups for young people from every 10 years to 2 years.

"This is a big deal that the government is trying to do something and so we should acknowledge that," Chang said. "Koreans living in Korea are telling me that they're excited."

She added, "The U.S. medical system makes it part of the annual physicals, so that would be [my] wish [for Korea]. And Korea has such an excellent healthcare system."

She also noted the importance of separating the concepts of mental health and mental illnesses.

"Mental health is a daily part of life. It's your emotional, social and psychological well-being. It is the health of your mind. On the other hand, mental illness is a specific diagnosis, and while it is not uncommon, there [are] specific criteria to be met in order to be diagnosed with a mental illness. Mental illness is 100 percent treatable with the right care and treatment. But mental health and mental illness should not be confused," Chang said.

Since mental health is an everyday phenomenon, ignoring it can lead to worse consequences if not monitored more frequently. She hopes the government takes note of this and puts in measures to track its citizens' mental health as well, hopefully leading to higher life satisfaction for future generations.

If you or someone you know is feeling emotionally distressed or struggling with thoughts of suicide, LifeLine Korea can be contacted at 1588-9191. The Seoul Foreign Resident Center offers English-language counseling. Contact 02-2229-4900 to arrange a session. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

BY STUDENT REPORTER DEEPTI NAIR [kjd.kcampus@joongang.co.kr]