Summary Of The Movie 'What About Bob?'

What about Bob? is a movie about a man named Bob who suffers from anxiety. Bob struggles greatly with his disorder, which causes him to panic every time he leaves his apartment in New York City. Along with anxiety, Bob has an extreme fear of germs known as Mysophobia and this fear translates into a fear of disease as well. Bob has many problems with his life and he sees psychiatrists for help. The movie hints that Bob has seen many psychiatrists over the course of his lifetime. His current psychiatrist is quitting his practice, the psychiatrist refers Bob to Dr. Leo Marvin. During Bob’s first session, Dr. Marvin announces that he will be going on vacation and will be unavailable for a month. Bob’s anxiety kicks in and he panics. Bob takes extreme

lengths to be near the doctor, even faking his own death just to obtain the doctor’s address. This extreme behavior wears away at the doctor’s patience. Eventually, Dr. Marvin breaks and directs Bob to take a vacation from his fears. This pivotal moment leads to Bob eventually working through his problems on his own, believing that Dr. Marvin is actually helping him. Bob, through his interactions with the doctor’s family, is actually driving Dr. Marvin insane. Dr. Marvin’s attempts to rid himself of Bob escalate to a dramatic conclusion: attempted murder. Dr. Marvin attempts to murder Bob as a last resort, but “Death Therapy” seems to cure him instead. Dr. Marvin’s house is then destroyed by twenty pounds of black powder, and Dr. Marvin lapses into a vegetative state because of a mental breakdown. Bob, in the end, becomes a psychologist, promoting the “death therapy” that he believes cured him.
Bob suffers from an anxiety disorder. While mentally healthy people express anxiety from time to time, the National Institute for Mental Health website explains that anxiety disorders involve more than just a temporary fear. Anxiety disorders, unlike natural anxiety, do not go away or diminish over time. Instead, they worsen to the point of interference in work, school performance and even relationships. Generalized anxiety disorder, a form of anxiety, symptoms include restlessness, being easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty controlling worry, and sleep problems. The Mayo Clinic website complements the previous definition by explaining that anxiety disorders involve repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes. Common anxiety symptoms include: feeling nervous, restless or tense, having a sense of impending danger, increased heart rate, respiration, sweating and trembling. Other symptoms include gastrointestinal problems and having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety. The authors of my psychology textbook maintain that some people suffer from generalized anxiety disorder, defined as “excessive, uncontrollable anxiety or worry, without ever having lived through any specific anxiety-producing event” (Wade, et al. 552). All of these definitions, while slightly different, communicate that anxiety is a disease that greatly affects those afflicted, in both their social and personal lives, as so many symptoms can lead to complications in their work, social, and personal lives.
Throughout the film, Bob portrays a host of symptoms, many of which are consistent with medical data pertaining to generalized anxiety disorders. For instance, Bob is rocking back and forth on his bed mumbling the words, “I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful,” in the opening scene. He utters these words repeatedly to soothe himself. The Mayo Clinic website describes people who suffer from this disease as feeling nervous, restless and having a sense of impending danger, doom or panic. Bob is portraying these very symptoms with his incessant recitation, obviously trying to calm himself down enough to leave his apartment. He needs to reassure himself by repeating his phrase over and over, just to muster enough resolve to leave the perceived safety of his apartment. Bob walks to his psychiatric appointment with Dr. Marvin. While he is making his way into the building, Bob pulls out a tissue to cover his hand while touching objects. He uses this tissue many times, including the dialing of a public telephone, and even shaking Dr. Marvin’s hand. While this specific symptom is not inherently a symptom of anxiety, it is a symptom of Mysophobia. Mysophobia, as defined by everydayhealth.com, is the excessive fear of germs. Bob goes to extreme lengths to protect himself from germs. He feels safe in his apartment, but once he leaves, he will refuse to touch any surface. He keeps his hands tucked safely inside his pockets and he even feels the need to sanitize public phone receivers. These very symptoms are generalized to an over-arching anxiety disorder, which can make simple fears into a crippling affliction that disrupts everyday life. As mentioned previously, Bob exhibits symptoms of hypochondria, which the Mayo Clinic website defines as worrying excessively that you are, or can become seriously ill. With Bob’s obsession with germs, hypochondria makes sense. While he is meeting with Dr. Marvin, he fakes two illnesses. The first disease he fakes is Tourette's Syndrome, which has been known to cause people to shout obscene and socially unacceptable terms and phrases. Bob shouts obscenities in Dr. Marvin’s office, clearly disturbing the doctor. He finally stops and then fakes cardiac arrest. Once he has concluded faking a heart attack, Bob calmly gets up and informs the questioning psychiatrist that if he fakes the disease, then he does not have it.
Bob is a highly anxious hypochondriac, but the movie never specifically states a cause for Bob’s condition. The Mayo Clinic website states the actual causes of an anxiety disorder is not exactly known. Childhood trauma and environment are possible contributing factors. While the movie does not exactly state what the cause of his anxiety is, some assumption is used to determine a general cause. In the film, Bob is,in fact, divorced. Bob feels that he left his wife because she loved Neil Diamond, a famous singer. In reality, his psychiatrist helps Bob to see that his wife actually left him because of his extreme anxiety issues. So why is Bob the way he is? To answer that question, we must look at the general causes of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders, as mentioned above, can stem from traumatic childhood experiences or even the environment in which the parent raised the child. Bob’s anxiety may have originated from an abusive parent or even an unsafe home environment. Bob is a hypochondriac in the movie, so it is possible that one of his parents drilled into his mind that germs are bad and that he must avoid them at all costs. Throughout the movie, Bob shows an array of interesting symptoms
In the film, Bob receives help from numerous psychiatrists before eventually receiving help from Dr. Leo Marvin. Dr. Marvin introduces Bob to his book called “Baby Steps.” The book “Baby steps” is intended to help Bob overcome his anxiety and fears. Dr. Marvin teaches Bob to take small steps with everything that he does. Instead of trying to walk out of the building, Dr. Marvin suggests that Bob takes baby steps out of the office, then down the hall, and into the elevator. The book does seem to help Bob initially, but what really helps is when Dr. Marvin gives him permission to go on vacation from all of his problems. This allows Bob to truly blossom, as he feels he is no longer bound to his problems, a truly interesting concept. What finally cures Bob is Dr. Marvin’s “Death Therapy.” Bob, up until this point, has been interrupting and intruding on Dr. Marvin’s life. Bob follows Dr. Marvin’s family on vacation and he “ruined” Dr. Marvin’s interview with “Good Morning, America”. The last straw for Dr. Marvin is when he attempts to admit Bob in a psychiatric hospital and the doctors there see no need to hold Bob. The doctor then completely loses his capacity for compassion and attempts to murder Bob by tying him to a tree stump and strapping twenty pounds of black powder around his neck. Bob ends up curing himself by over-analyzing Dr. Marvin’s behavior. Bob believes that Leo is trying to tell him that if he does not untie his insides, then he will explode. Bob not only cures himself but blows up Leo's house in the process, causing the poor doctor to have a psychotic breakdown and lapse into a vegetative state. These treatments are comical and are not very realistic. The Mayo Clinic website offers a more realistic treatment for people suffering from anxiety issues. On their website, the Mayo Clinic lists one of the best forms of treatment as psychotherapy; simply working with a therapist to reduce anxiety symptoms. “What About Bob?” suggests this and hints that Bob has seen nearly a dozen therapists in his search for relief. The Mayo Clinic also has a list of medications used to treat anxiety including antidepressants and even sedatives, in extreme cases. The NIMH website offers in-depth descriptions of treatments used such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, a psychotherapy variant where patients expose themselves to the situations that trigger their anxiety repeatedly. The NIMH website also suggests group therapy, self-help and stress management techniques as possible helpful treatments to anxiety disorders. Overall, while “What About Bob?” is a Hollywood motion picture, capturing the humor and a happy ending in the plot, the movie is still relatively realistic under the guidelines for help listed on two well-known medical websites.
“What About Bob?” is very funny, but some scenes hit closer to home than one might think.

In the movie, Bob confesses that his wife divorced him. I feel that this specific situation is very realistic. Unfortunately, a stigma against mental illness exists in our society today. The very idea of a spouse having a mental illness could actually cause a wife to leave. This specific situation, I feel, is very accurate. Another scene depicts Bob’s former therapist as he is packing his things. While doing so, the therapist chats with Bob’s new doctor. The therapist laughs maniacally as he tells the doctor that he will have his hands full with Bob. While not entirely realistic, this portrayal could be possible, but highly unlikely. While the therapist portrayed in this scene does seem to have a mental breakdown of sorts, I feel that this situation is highly unlikely in the real world, as real psychiatrists train to deal with patients that would aggravate others. A big part in “What About Bob?” is Bob’s need to involve himself with Dr. Marvin’s family. Bob makes friends with the family members, who in turn gradually help him by allowing him to help them. Unknowingly, when the members of Dr. Marvin’s family open up to Bob, he wants to do what they are doing, which simultaneously helps cure Bob’s disease. This portrayal of Bob mingling with the family is realistic, replicating group therapy. Also, people placed in those positions would enjoy mingling with someone as kind-hearted as

Bob.
“What About Bob?” while meant to make the viewer laugh, is a relatively accurate portrayal of some form of mental illness, especially an anxiety disorder. While scenes that seem far too outlandish do indeed exist (as with nearly every Hollywood movie), “What About Bob?” brilliantly shows what it is like to live with a mental illness like extreme anxiety. The movie depicts Bob having a disease that causes him to fear everything, from germs to elevators. “What About Bob?” shows anxiety disorders in a new light and I am glad that I watched the movie. I suffer from anxiety problems, but I do not have symptoms as debilitating as Bob’s. I feel that, having experience with anxiety, “What About Bob?” lights the dark recesses that are mental illness.