[Slate] Shedding Light on Psychiatric Wards That Erase Prejudice and Stigma

Director Lee Jaegyu's 'Morning Comes to the Psychiatric Ward'
Nurse Caring for Patients Also Suffers from Depression
Everyone on the Border Between Normal and Abnormal... Impossible to Distinguish
Stigma from Treatment Alone Creates a Vicious Cycle
Emphasizes Our Role in Lowering Barriers and Removing Obstacles

Netflix's Morning Comes to the Psychiatric Ward features two suicide attempts. The first is by Kim Seowan (No Jaewon), a delusional patient receiving treatment in the psychiatric ward of Myeongshin University Hospital. Ironically, as he regains his sense of reality, he becomes engulfed in anxiety. When the medical staff decides on his discharge, he quietly says, "I don't have confidence." It is the fear of having to prepare again for the civil service exam. After multiple failures, he has endured days of frustration and self-blame. He considers the psychiatric ward safer and more comfortable. "Continuing down this path, I have no certainty that I'll pass, but if I give up, all the effort I've put in feels wasted. It feels like I'm sinking into a swamp."

People who think about or attempt suicide are mostly overwhelmed by despair and helplessness, believing that no matter what they do, life will not improve. Such feelings block their perspective, preventing them from objectively viewing their lives. Professor Na Jongho of Yale University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry explains in his book The People’s Library of a New York Psychiatrist: "They come to believe that the only way to escape a tragic situation and stop the pain is through death. At the moment of attempting suicide, suicide does not feel like a choice but the only escape from the unbearable pain of reality."

This contrasts with the common perception that those who die by suicide are selfish. Rather, it suggests that the underlying thought is that they are a burden to their family or loved ones. This is a crucial understanding for suicide prevention. Negative perceptions cause high-risk individuals to continue hiding their suicidal thoughts or attempts, depriving them of appropriate treatment opportunities. Not all people who die by suicide have mental illnesses. However, suicidal tendencies are common among patients with depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and substance addiction, and suicidal thoughts are a symptom of depression.

Morning Comes to the Psychiatric Ward portrays this through the emotional changes of the protagonist Jung Daeun (Park Boyoung), a nurse who has devotedly treated Kim Seowan. After hearing about his death, she falls into severe depression. The more she silently continues working without showing it, the more her pessimism and cynicism grow. Unable to control her pent-up emotions in a moment of crisis, Jung Daeun attempts suicide. She unconsciously crosses the crosswalk despite the red light. She pushes away her mother (Hwang Younghee), who tries to stop her, and rushes toward an oncoming vehicle. Overwhelmed by despair, her rational thinking is paralyzed. Intense emotions such as depression, anxiety, fear, and anger swirl inside her, causing extreme emotional pain.

This is not Jung Daeun’s problem alone. Many characters in Morning Comes to the Psychiatric Ward are mentally burdened by psychological pressure. Fellow nurse Mindeulle (Lee Idam) is filled with worry over her mother’s gambling debts, and Dong Goyoon (Yeon Woojin), a colorectal surgeon at the same hospital, habitually presses his finger joints whenever anxious. Close friend Song Yuchan (Jang Dongyun) suffers from panic disorder even after quitting his job. Even Professor Im Hyuksu (Kim Jongtae), who oversees the psychiatric department, is weighed down by guilt for not being able to save his patients.

The reason for depicting mental illness or its early symptoms as common diseases is clear: to show that everyone exists on the boundary between normality and abnormality. This boundary cannot be concealed. Manfred Lutz, a German psychiatrist, emphasized in his book Map of the Dangerous Mind that "there is no absolute standard for normal and abnormal." He added, "Rather than thinking dichotomously, we should have an open mind and flexible thinking."

Director Lee Jaegyu supports Lutz’s assertion through the lament of patient Yoon Jiseon (Park Jungyoon), who shares a hospital room with Jung Daeun. "I am a depressed patient who attempted suicide. That’s why I came to this psychiatric ward. Like many patients I met... I am sick. I thought I was different from them. Even though we wear the same clothes, sleep in the same place, and eat the same food, I believed I was the only one here who wasn’t sick (Jung Daeun)." "The strange thing is, people see others’ flaws more clearly than their own. So they can’t see their own flaws. Because they can’t see their own flaws, there are doctors and nurses (Yoon Jiseon)."

Simply receiving treatment should not lead to stigmatization, as it only causes a vicious cycle. South Korea has long surpassed a dangerous level. Among OECD member countries, it has the highest suicide rate (24.1 per 100,000 people in 2020). This rate could rise further. One in four adults experiences mental illness, but only 22% receive treatment. Some avoid using health insurance due to fears of disadvantages in employment or workplace life. The burden on individuals delays treatment, repeatedly turning what could be stopped with a hoe into a problem requiring a plow.

It is difficult to ask for help when feeling mentally distressed. Doing so requires tremendous courage. Morning Comes to the Psychiatric Ward emphasizes that it is our responsibility to lower that barrier and remove obstacles. While acknowledging that we cannot fully understand another person’s life, it unfolds magical moments where that gap narrows through effort. It shines sunlight into a psychiatric ward free of prejudice and stigma... "There are no curtains here. So morning comes here earlier than in other wards."