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What About Bob: A Psychological Analysis

Plot Summary

Relation to Psychology

What About Bob? portrays realistic psychological issues a from comedic perspective through the characters Bob Wiley and his therapist Dr. Leo Marvin. After having just one session with Dr. Marvin (Dreyfuss), Bob (Murray) thinks the world of him. Shortly after their first session, however, the doctor leaves to spend the rest of the summer with his family, which throws Bob into utter despair. Bob uses many tactics to find out where the doctor is and visits him. The doctor's family begins to like Bob but Dr. Marvin himself sees Bob as a nuisance. No matter what he does and how many times he asks, Bob just won't go away. The rest of the Marvin family thinks Leo is being rude and too harsh on Bob, which pushes him to the point of trying to kill Bob in the woods. Dr. Marvin's plan backfires, however, and Bob ends up blowing up the Marvin household instead, sending the doctor into shock. Bob goes on to earn his degree in psychiatry and Dr. Marvin becomes a psychiatric patient.

Bob suffers from several psychological disorders, such as agoraphobia, dependent personality disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder throughout the film.

Bob Wiley (Bill Murray)

Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss)

Therapy session scene

Conclusion

Overall, this film did a really good job of depicting many symptoms and effects of each of these disorders, with the main error being in the lack of treatment and sudden relief of all symptoms. If this film was meant to be a teaching tool for psychological disorders, it would probably only get one or two stars from us, however it is meant to be a comedy and the disorders that Bob has are purely for comical effect, not educational. Not a bad job for a funny movie.

Agoraphobia

Bob shows many signs of agoraphobia, like not wanting to leave his apartment, telling Dr. Marvin that he fears his heart will stop or he will not be able to find a bathroom. He also avoids getting on the elevator and is reluctant ot get on the bus to go visit Dr. Marvin.

Dependent Personality

Disorder

Legit or Nah?

movie clip

Bob's agoraphobia is stated as "classic". In the DSM-IV, agoraphobia is defined as "anxiety about, or avoidance of places or situations from which escape might be difficult or help may not be available." The depiction is accurate in the movie because he chooses to work from his apartment has difficulty leaving home, gets scared in elevators, and he confides in Dr. Marvin that he thinks "public places are impossible". The problem in the portrayal of this disorder is how it is cured. We learn that Bob has been in therapy for years, and by that point should have made some progress, since phobias are relatively easy to cure or at least help. Suddently, without any real help from Dr. Marvin, Bob's symptoms seem to disappear after meeting him.

When Dr. Marvin is first contacted about Bob, Bob's former therapist seems to be rushing to get out of town, assumed to be getting away from Bob himself. After a single session with Dr. Marvin, Bob calls him, day or night, begging for his help and assistance. When he learns that the doctor is on vacation and can no longer be contacted, he goes so far as pretending to be Dr. Marvin's sister, calling with an emergency, as well as faking his own suicide, which finally gets him the address. Bob then follows the family, begins participating in all of their vacation activities instead of planning his own, eats dinner with them, takes part in Dr. Marvin' s interview with Good Morning America, and even stays with the Marvins. He is dependent on the doctor for everything from psychiatric aid to everyday decisions.

OCD

movie clip

Legit or Nah?

The portrayal of his dependance is mostly accurate, with a few minor flaws. While his lack of self confidence and decision making skills are depicted perfectly, as well as his need for almost constant contact with the doctor, he is not imperatively concerned with the Dr. Marvin's happiness. It is clear that the doctor is unhappy when Bob stays with his family, and people with dependent personality disorder always put the needs and happiness of those they are dependent on over their own. Also, as with the other disorders in this film, the disorder seems to miraculously go away as time goes on, which does not happen in a typical case.

Bob shows a few symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder during the beginning of the film. The opening scene shows Bob sitting in apartment saying "I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful" to himself over and over again. He repeats this to himself whenever he is nervous or in a new situation. He also uses tissues to touch anything outside of his apartment that may have germs from other people on it.

Legit or Nah?

movie clip

Although these are the only two symptoms of OCD that he shows, they are legitimate. The compulsion of talking himself into everything he does paired with the obsession with germs makes it clear that he does have obsessive-compulsive disorder, however similar to the portrayal of agoraphobia, the symptoms "magically" disappear by the end of the film, with no help from the doctor.

By Brett Conklin, Cameron Eck, Saige McGovern and Delany Turner

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