9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Soth Korean medical drama with comedic amd romantic underpinings. There are 12, 52-72 minute episodes. It is based on a webtoon of the same name and is a reflection of true life experiences of a psychiatric nurse.

Her particular brand of sunshine is just what people, some of them at the mentally lowest points in their life, need. if some real life experiences of a psychiatric nurse.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Jung Da eun’s (Park Bo young) main “fault” is she is too nice to her patients. It is why she was encourager to move from internal medicine to the mental health arena. Her counterparts felt that, in life or death situations, speed was arguably more important than treating patients with kindness. Although she struggles at first when she joins the Department of psychiatry, it is soon clear that her particular brand of sunshine is what some if the psychiatric patients need. As she encounters people at some of their lowest points, she struggles with her deep feelings if empathy and looks to her childhood friend, Song Yu chan (Jang Dong yoon) for emotional support, Yu chan has known for a while he has romantic feelings for Da eun but can never seem to find the right moment to tell her. But when his older friend, Dong Go yun (Yeon Woo jin) friend also develops feelings for the kind, thoughtful young nurse it is a race to win her heart. Their story plays out amidst the very busy case load of the hospital.

Review

This provides a weighty dive into the work life of a psychiatric nurse. The digital effects they use to portray what it is like for the person(s) experiencing the different mentql disorders is unique and compelling. It is an interesting mental health drama with a heart warming romance. It ends happy with all major plot points resolved. I might watch it again and would recommend it to ither drama fans.

Spoilers

I was in a slump with dramas where we watched several that were not that good. We really like Park Bo young so this one really drew our attention. She did not disappoint as it was an interesting role that she played very well.

South Korea and US have a slightly different way of viewing mental health. In as much as the series is accurate, there is still a lot of stigma on disorders where having a mental health issue could keep you from getting a job or renting an apartment. It seems that the expectation in this series was it was a sickness you repair where in the US it is more of a condition that can flare but you mostly just manage with therapy and medication and live with. If you mention you have depression in the US, you either get “oh you do too?” Or they just express sympathy. Like South Korea, with Borderline, schizophrenia amd bi polar there is a lot of stigma and negative views but those are issues where the harm can be to others, they are more difficult to treat, and patients often stop taking medications. I think the biggest difference was depression is not considered as big of a deal in the US as it seems to be in South Korea.

I got a little frustrated with Da Eun during her depression because I thought she did not act like a psychiatric nurse at all. There were things she did in the fog of depression I thought she would have known better as a mental health professional. The “just leave a depressed person alone” and “forcing them is agression” was surprising because you cannot allow depressed people to mire in their depressed feelings. Although it is not one size fits all, it is often the case that interacting with other people, staying on schedule with self care and interacting with other people is what helps pull someone out of depression. Severely depressed people may start thinking things would be better without them, and although people might be sad, they would quickly get over it and be better in the long run. That’s why you have to talk it out with them and help them understand that none of that is true that it would hurt the people around them forever and be a wound that would never fully heal. They also need help with thunking things will never get better. So I was a little disappointed with the way they portrayed her depressive episode.

The psychiatric nurse who decided to take some time off to work on a criuise ship represented an unnecessary derailment of what could habe been a cute second romance. That separation trope is common in South Korean dramas but I am never a fan.

#DailyDoseofSunshine #ParkBoYoung #YeonWooJin #JangDongYoon