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Are there any other episodes of Star Trek that deal with mental health?


Back when the series was produced, mental health was not as widely discussed as it is today. I recently re watched S5E03 of Star Trek: Voyager ("Extreme Risk") which shows B'Elanna Torres self-harming to deal with the trauma of discovering that many of her friends were massacred in a battle back in the Alpha Quadrant. The doctor diagnoses her with clinical depression. These topics were not widely shown on TV at the time, and as usual, Star Trek was way ahead of its time in showing the effects of mental health.



However, I can't recall any other episode which specifically deals with mental health. Are there other episodes of VOY or any other ST that explicitly deal with mental health/depression/suicide? I was very impressed with how the topic was handled, specifically that grief can cause these symptoms and that they can be handled. Though slightly disappointed that she sort of "magically" recovers...


Is there any reference to a character struggling with a long-term mental illness that is openly discussed on the show?



Answer




I can't recall any other episode which specifically deals with mental health.



Star Trek is full of plots that deal with mental health. I think just about every episode contains some discussion around mental health in one form or another. Here are a few examples of plots that span multiple episodes or movies:



  • Deanna Troi serves as ship's counselor, and we see several crew members attending therapy.

  • The crew of Voyager deals with being so far away from home.


  • Benjamin Sisko copes with the loss of his wife.

  • Julian Bashir comes to grips with being outed as a genetically modified person.

  • Worf struggles with being the first Klingon in Starfleet.

  • Jean-Luc Picard deals with his assimilation (it's a major plot point in First Contact) and the death of his brother and nephew.

  • Data strives to feel emotions, and to understand what it's like to be human.




Is there any reference to a character struggling with a long-term mental illness that is openly discussed on the show?




The first character that comes to mind is Reginald Barclay.


Reginal Barclay


From Wikipedia, emphasis mine:



While possessing great technical skill and sincere enthusiasm, Barclay seems anxiety-ridden, socially awkward, and self-conscious. He also displays stuttering and dysfluent speech behaviors, especially when nervous or anxious, along with some secondary gestures, such as facial grimaces and small head tics, however on the holdeck many of these issues vanish and he acts confident. He has an obsessive interest in fantasy, which seems to serve as an escape from personal interactions, especially those where he is being mistreated by others. Barclay's anxieties extend to idiosyncratic fears (such as fear of being transported) and hypochondriasis. The overcoming of his fears and social anxieties became a running plot point across many seasons in multiple Star Trek series.



Miles O'Brien also has a few story lines related to his mental health.


Miles O'Brien


Again, from Wikipedia:




The TNG episode "The Wounded" establishes that O'Brien served as tactical officer aboard the USS Rutledge during the Cardassian War and that he was emotionally scarred by the Cardassians' massacre of hundreds of civilians on Setlik III.


...


The producers would routinely put O'Brien under intense psychological pressure in episodes jokingly dubbed 'O'Brien must suffer'.


...


Miles was temporarily relieved of duty after a visit to the planet Argratha. O'Brien had been falsely accused of espionage and was given the simulated memory of a 20-year prison sentence. O'Brien became paranoid and emotionally distressed upon his return to the station and attempted suicide (Episode: "Hard Time").



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