What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Mental Illness | Dr. Eric Bender

The Checkup with Doctor Mike

DM Operations Inc.

Medicine, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2025

⏱️ 124 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I'll teach you how to become the media's go-to expert in your field. Enroll in The Professional's Media Academy now: https://www.professionalsmediaacademy.com/

Huge thanks to @dr.ericbender for joining us today! Check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.ericbender

00:00 Intro

01:32 Diagnosing Celebrities

07:39 Diagnosing Fictional Characters

14:00 Boundaries With Patients

18:50 Silver Linings Playbook

20:47 Self Diagnosis

27:54 Reaction Videos

32:40 CBT vs. DBT

40:50 Medication

51:10 Talk Therapy

52:48 “Mania”

54:48 The Body Keeps The Score

57:55 Who Should People Call?

1:03:40 Online Therapy + AI

1:08:16 Reality TV

1:10:20 Psychiatrists With Issues

1:13:27 Famous Psychiatrists

1:18:47 Good Will Hunting

1:25:47 MrBeast

1:27:30 The Joker

1:31:54 Snake Oil

1:34:25 Labeling Your Ex

1:36:36 Primary Care Problems

1:40:00 Couples Therapy + Divorce

1:44:35 Misconceptions

1:46:40 The Bear + Adolescence + The Future

1:52:36 Should You Become A Psychiatrist?

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Contact Email: [email protected]

Executive Producer: Doctor Mike

Production Director and Editor: Dan Owens

Managing Editor and Producer: Sam Bowers

Editor and Designer: Caroline Weigum

Editor: Juan Carlos Zuniga

* Select photos/videos provided by Getty Images *

** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **

Transcript

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0:29.7	Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. The overarching theme of
0:35.9	the Joker is that he is really a psychopath. So a psychopath is someone who's callous and uncaring. They will use people as pawns to get what they want in their lives. They really don't care. I feel like listeners or viewers might hear your definition of that and be like, oh, I dated one of those. Yeah. Is that... I've been asked this before. When it comes to dating, psychopathy is probably an extreme version of narcissism.
0:58.4	One of the traits for narcissistic personality disorder is you lack empathy.
1:01.5	I think they're talking about people who are totally absorbed with themselves, not considering
1:05.0	other people, think they deserve the best treatment, they should be the center of attention.
1:09.9	They're pursuing unlimited power, beauty, money, whatever.
1:12.6	Those are narcissistic traits, and maybe you are seeing them
1:14.6	and people you date.
1:16.6	Are you displaying them also, or what's happening?
1:18.6	Welcome back to the Checkup podcast.
1:20.6	Today we're diving into the world of Dr. Eric Bender,
1:23.6	a psychiatrist whose insights on the human mind
1:26.6	have been featured everywhere
1:28.9	from the New York Times to viral videos with GQ. He's not just a doctor, he's a storyteller
1:34.8	who makes the science of mental health actually click. You may have enjoyed his work on
1:39.1	Batman Arkham Shadow, where he served as a consultant to ensure the science was spot on. In this episode, we're diving into the surprising ways
1:47.0	Hollywood gets mental health terribly wrong,
1:50.0	where it nails it perfectly,
1:51.0	and even into the social media trend
1:53.0	of diagnosing your ex with a personality disorder.
	...

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