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You Raise Me Up korean drama review
Completed
You Raise Me Up
3 people found this review helpful
by setlib
Dec 27, 2021
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Anxiety disorder and erectile dysfunction treated compassionately

This is first and foremost a mental health drama about a male lead struggling with anxiety and erectile dysfunction which lead to depression. It introduces the topic of ED with a cheeky sense of humor (lots of wilting bananas LOL) but it's really refreshing to see this important and taboo subject addressed. It also shows how the pressure to get a "good" job can be really crushing and dispiriting for a young man in modern Korean society. Actor Yoon Shi Yoon does a fantastic job portraying the male lead Do Yong Shik's fear and sadness in such a way that I empathized with him but never thought of him as pathetic. Similar to Yoon Shi Yoon's performance in Psychopath Diary, he humanizes the ML as he goes through difficult mental health challenges. I was especially impressed that this drama demonstrated (in an extreme form) how Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy challenges work in the treatment of anxiety -- basically the idea is to face the situation you're afraid of, without the support or compulsion that you've developed, and to realize that you "survived" the scary situation so you'll be less afraid of it next time. Now, the problem with this drama is that the way they performed ERP challenges is almost traumatic in itself.

It turns out (in typical kdrama fashion) that his urologist is actually his long-lost first love from high school, she's dating his psychologist, and they make a bet about his treatment which launches a host of medically unethical and unprofessional meddling by both of them. They almost become a roadblock to his recovery and the stress they put him through might actually deter a viewer from seeking treatment for anxiety if they thought this is what it would look like! Because of this, the romance that develops felt a little unsatisfying to me, and I think that's the source of some of the low ratings for this series. However for anyone interested in the portrayal of mental health issues in kdramas, I'd consider this title a MUST-WATCH!
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