A Discussion of the HBO Documentary Entitled “Bob”

Abstract

Throughout this discussion, the 1989 HBO Documentary about schizophrenia entitled “Bob” will be referenced. Three points to be addressed are the state of mental institutions during Bob’s youth, Bob’s lack of speech disability, and his frequent use of cigarettes. These three topics are most interesting both within the topic of schizophrenia in general and specifically during the time of this documentary.

A Discussion of the HBO Documentary Entitled “Bob”

Throughout this video, I consistently had a feeling of how unfair the disease of schizophrenia is. Bob, the 35-year-old sufferer of schizophrenia, was the focal point of this documentary (HBO, 1989). Like Hollywood Film, A Beautiful Mind, which also documents one man's struggle with schizophrenia, the director traced Bob’s life and provided examples of how his schizophrenia has affected his personality and inability to function as a normal adult. Utterly tragic was how this man, who once was a promising student, spiraled into his mental instability. Within this, I was hyper-aware of the references to the mental institution that he was subjected to, his accelerated speech, and his consistent tobacco use. These three variables interested me primarily because they were a mark of the attitudes toward mental disorders of that time period, and either aligned or diverged from typical schizophrenic symptoms.

Initially, I was disgusted when hearing how Bob’s mother spoke of his condition after he left the mental institution that he was placed into. His mother described his appearance as “skin and bones and… drugged.” My heart suddenly pulled for Bob and what he went through within this “treatment.” However, it is important to look back at the practices during the late ’70s and early ’80s in mental institutions; most doctors were at a loss as to how to properly care for patients of debilitating mental health. Anger is the automatic response, within this day and time, when witnessing the way doctors handled their patients; however, medicine and understanding of the mind was not near as advanced as it is now (even in that short of a time span).

The second thing that I thought was interesting in relation to this documentary was Bob’s elevated speech patterns and vocabulary. While it is the signature of most schizophrenic patients to have limited conversational patterns, Bob was speaking candidly and frequently to his interviewer- although most of his speech was nonsensical. In the documentary, his parents spoke of how Bob had an elevated intelligent level when he was younger; I think this is interesting in that this has carried over across his age and disease. Remnants of his younger self were still peeking through, despite his brain’s disease. He exemplified a higher-end vocabulary in several parts of the interview, and uncharacteristically was providing answers that went into detail and depth- typically, schizophrenia patients say no more than one-word answers.

Lastly, I thought it was interesting and fascinating the correlation between cigarette smoking and schizophrenia. It is a more modern knowledge, the relationship that emerges between those who suffer from schizophrenia and the unusually high use of tobacco. However, it was evident in the documentary that Bob was consistently smoking. One scene actually showed Bob lighting one cigarette while smoking another one. Although it is questionable the reasoning behind this correlation, I think it is interesting that (in 1989) the interviewer did not ask Bob about his use; it was simply considered to be “normal” to be a smoker, and nothing harmful. There is some recent data that suggests cigarette smoking parallels to the feelings of “impulsivity and hopelessness” prevalent in schizophrenia patients ((Ekinci & Ekonci, 2012). Due to Bob’s almost compulsive-like smoking habit and walking patterns, this impulse component could explain the smoking.

Ultimately, I thought this was a useful and helpful documentary relating to schizophrenia and the characteristics of such. Habitual behavior was highlighted as well as institutional traits of that time.

References

Ekinci, O., & Ekonci, A. (2012). Cigarette smoking in patients with schizophrenia in Turkey: relationships to psychopathology, socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Dusunen Adam: Journal Of Psychiatry & Neurological Sciences, 25(4), 321-329. doi:10.5350/DAJPN2012250404

HBO. (1989). Schizophrenia documentary (HBO) “Bob”. Retrieved February 13, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1XO6o-9mqQ.