The movie, “What about Bob?” is a comic feature that illustrates the relationship between a doctor (Marvin Leo) and his client (Bob Willey). Mostly, the movie shows the problem of mental disorders, which exist in both Bob and Marvin.
However, while Bob is well conversant with his problems of anxiety, fear, and dependency, Leo is oblivious that he suffers from Obsessive-compulsive Disorder. In effect, the writer is going to analyze both cases of mental disorders regarding the movie, analyzing each party as an independent patient.
Among the areas of analysis is their family background, their behavioral conduct, Application of DSM-5 criteria for their diagnosis, possible treatment, and the ethical issue of Doctor-patient boundary consideration, as illustrated in the movie.
Dr. Leo Marvin is a Caucasian male aged 60 years. He is married to Faye Marvin, and they both have two children, named, Anna and Sigmund. He is a psychiatrist by profession and has attained an MD-PhD in education.
On the other hand, his patient, Robert is also known as Bob Willey is a Caucasian male aged 39 years. He is presently divorced though later remarries to Dr. Marvin’s sister. He does not have any children and is not employed. Also, His education level is unknown.
Behavior wise, Dr. Marvin Leo cares for himself very well. He dresses sharply, and neatly, an evident sign of good grooming. He changes his clothes regularly from time to time and ensures to look sharp all through with evidently thorough ironed clothes.
His interaction with other people is pleasant though he appears to be a little high-handed and tough. Essentially, he has a big ego and believes that he can control everything without getting angry or upset.
He further assumes that he has the ability to handle all situations perfectly with clarity and ease. In fact, his family accuses him of being rigid and not fun. This reflects in his mood because he is always irritable, in a snappy mood with Bob, and shouts a lot.
However, he is very intelligent considering that he has written a book, has a high educational level, and attracts a show with Good Morning America. His problem is that he has an anger management problem and is a perfectionist. He desires things to go a certain way and constantly nags his family with recommendations about everything.
On the other hand, Bob Wiley tries to care for himself though he at times neglects himself. His dressing is consistent, as he puts on one jacket all the time. When he undertakes a vacation with the Marvin’s, he hardly changes his clothes. He consistently puts on a green T-shirt and shorts that look ripped from the knee.
Their size is not balanced. His hair is also messy all the time. Nevertheless, he interacts very well with people, and as Marvin’s daughter suggests, he is fun.
He is easy to talk to and compliments people all the time to gain their affection. He is also hilarious, and this makes his lovely company. This further reflects on his mood as he appears to be happy all the time. There is never one time when he is serious with issues, even when he is asked to leave.
I assume that the character is also intelligent owing to his ability to manipulate people to like him. He understands what people want to hear and tells them just that.
Through his words, Bob states that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, suffers panic with agoraphobia and hypochondria, and has a myriad of phobias. He also states that he has an extremely dependent personality. Also, Bob seems to be manipulative. He manipulates his death to get information about Marvin’s whereabouts.
He appears to manipulate the people around him to like him even when he is annoying and intrusive to Leo’s family.
There is minimal background information to support the diagnosis for both Bob and Marvin. In the case of Bob, there is little background information that guides his diagnosis. However, the insight we get at the start of the movie stating that he suffered a divorce implies that he suffered from that trauma.
Thus, he exhibits these fearful and emotional memories of the traumatic past life he has lived. He also has problems leaving his house and constantly is in the fear of the unknown.
However, an evaluation of his bio-psychosocial factors better helps us make a diagnosis of his condition. It is not certain whether he has inherited his multiple phobias’ problem as there is little information concerning his family history. However, his reaction could be interpreted through the anxiety sensitivity theory.
According to this theory, people tend to interpret their anxiety response in a hypersensitive manner. This is illustrated when Bob pulls out a bag wanting to vomit then pulls it back citing false alarm. It looks like he hyperventilates and interprets his stress in a catastrophic manner
Secondly, his dependent personality problem can be evaluated using a psychological perspective, owing to little family background information. According to this point of view, the reasons for his dependency could have arisen out of traumatic events in his life, learned reactions, and distorted way of thought.
One such traumatic experience is the divorce that he suffered. He states that his wife was a lover of Neil Diamond, and he was not, a factor that led to their divorce. It is essential to state that they were two different people and possibly could not relate.
However, it is possible that there could be more to the divorce that Bob is willing to admit, characterized by the fits and made up stomach pains and cardiac arrest attack when the doctor mentions this fact to him.
GSM-5 criteria that justify Bob’s diagnosis are:
He is constantly anxious and worries about some issues. In his conversation with Anna, he states that he fears his bladder would burst, etc. Furthermore, he has had this problem for a very long time, and this is essentially why his previous clinician recommended him to Doctor Leo.
Bob is partly a danger to other people and not to himself. His fear and panic attacks prevent him from doing most things alone though his dependence means he creates unwarranted attachment of people around him especially his clinicians.
This is a case for concern as the level to which he goes through to get access to them is quite detrimental. However, an evaluation of the movie shows that Bob’s problems are not potentially violent or physical but manipulative.
On the other hand, Leo is a danger to other people more, as well as to himself. Owing to his obsessive-compulsive disorder, he is likely to overexert himself to attain perfection, and this may be detrimental to his health. Also, he applies the same level of need for other people and may endanger their lives in the process.
This is seen in how he lets go of his son when he was not ready to dive. Also, to get rid of Bob, his stress levels force him to tie him up with bombs to kill him. He seems to be able to do anything at whatever cost.
An evaluation of his previous behavior with clinicians shows that Bob is not able to make competent decisions for himself. He has idolized Dr. Marvin that he believes he is the solution to his problem. He considers every advice given to him very seriously and acts on it as he thinks this doctor is capable of healing him.
To some extent, Bob’s behavior warrants reporting to the government agencies.
An analysis of Leo shows that he is also not very able to make intelligent decisions concerning his condition. Nonetheless, it is possible for him to respond to the treatment being that he is not dependent.
In the event of manic stress behaviors, it may be necessary to confine him to a hospital institution, lest he causes harm to the general public. Besides, his attempt to kill Bob requires reporting to the police.
