He kinda looks like he could split logs with his bare hands but he also seems like a very understanding and gentle individual who can brew various types of tea

this guy is the most psychiatrist looking psychiatrist i've ever seen... I love it

i’m so happy he spoke about how serious sleep-deprivation is . i struggled w severe insomnia for 2 years & it absolutely annihilated my mental state . & as someone who has BPD- in my youth i would also sleep-deprive myself as a method of self sabotage . i think the damage done by lack of sleep is heavily underrated in the general public . everyone knows you should get 8/9 hrs but no one takes it seriously . just getting enough sleep can vastly improve your mood even if you struggle w chronic disorders . it’s a shame it’s so overlooked

I wish they'd dedicate an entire episode of him debunking every movie/show they can find about Disassociative Identity Disorder. They're all terrible and as someone with DID, the way he humanizes us brought to me tears. We are not just goofy characters or serial killers. We are people who have suffered an immense amount of trauma that the average person can't even comprehend.

He's dressed like any movie Psychiatrist that turns out to be the bad guy.

I like that the Dr is not only skilled in his profession, but also seems to have a good understanding of cinema and filmmaking.

I really appreciate that Dr. Bender makes a point of frequently highlighting that mental illness does not necessitate violence. Especially right now, the way mental illness is villainized in our society is greatly driven by media presentation of MI. It’s just really nice to have this point reiterated so clearly and unambiguously.

I like how all of a sudden his energy got tender, safe, careful when talking about integrating the different personalities by helping process the trauma.

I love how nonjudgmental he is and how he so clearly explains that mental illness does not equal violence.

I really appreciate how Doctor Bender repeatedly states in every video that people with mental health issues are not more likely to be violent or dangerous. Thank you, Doctor, for helping to fight the narrative that we should be afraid of people with certain diagnoses.

My mom was a psychiatric nurse for 40 years. Worked at a forensic hospital. She hates how mental health is portrayed in media. Says it’s always inaccurate. I remember when she saw Shutter Island she said that would never happen. No psychiatric hospital would ever let a patient live out their delusions.

I've had extreme insomnia for YEARS. It was actually greatly reduced by having my first baby, and also meant I was way more prepared to deal with the hugely reduced sleep deprivation that comes with newborns. But none of the mental health support I had before my kids EVER attempted to tackle my very serious delusions or hallucinations I had constantly before the pregnancies. Ever. Like, didn't even touch on it. So thanks for the explanation on sleep deprivation, I have so much more of an understanding as to what was going on to me back then.

Why is this psychiarist built like a Greek God while speaking mental issues and movie analysis????? Man's a whole package 😭

I appreciate him normalizing crying and calling it cathartic. I just recently had a discussion with my 7 year old about sometimes everyone needing a good cry. I think alot of us (especially us older people) were raised with the shame of crying and to suck it up. When crying can actually be such a great release of excess emotion.

Last month I got sleep deprived, having to stay awake for 36 hours because of a business trip and yes, I started to have sort of "flashing" hallucinations at the edges of my field of view during the last 3-6 hours before I finally could go to sleep. Actually quite similiar to how those quick flashes of Tyler Durden look during the first act of Fight Club.

Gotta say, the distortion in the mirror could also be caused in real life if someone just focuses intensely in their own stare in a mirror -- I forgot the specifics, but apparently it's near-impossible for your eyes to truly focus correctly while staring in a mirror, it needs a spot it can focus on so that your vision doesn't become corrupted (same reason why when you look your vision droops down slowly-- your eye has to have some motion or else it can't perceive light, you'd be blind. Back when I was 19 I had this tall mirror in my apartment and one day I decided to sit and stare into it and not blink at all. y'know that scene in that hannibal tv show where that dude sees himself in a mirror and it's all twisted and scary? It was kinda like that. I vividly remember my left eye that was now on my neck, and my lips in the reflection suddenly moving on their own despite me not saying anything, and then I saw my eyes blinked and I freaked out and snapped out of it. No wonder there's so many myths and superstitions about mirrors.

I love that Dr. Bender’s videos seem to be becoming an ongoing series because he is extremely thoughtful and quite good at explaining himself. I will always show up to watch these :)

As a narcoleptic, the topic of sleep deprivation was interesting. I wish the government would listen to doctors that narcolepsy is a disability. It used to be but we all got bumped off about 5 years ago. I got a letter stating that they see no reason why I couldn’t have a full time job with narcolepsy. My sleep specialist was horrified.

I've always thought that the 'club' in 'Fight Club' is an actual self-harm group for people that essentially hate themselves. Because of the sleep deprivation comes the depression, and with the depression, comes the anxiety. With the two combined, the self-doubts arrive, with the self-doubts comes the self-hate, and with the self-hate comes the urge of punishing yourself for not doing what you're supposed to.

They googled stock images of psychiatrists and found him

He talks so eloquently, calmly, and with such compassion you know he truly feels for everyone with mental illnesses. You can hear that there is no judgment in his speech at all and to his core he wants to help.

He doesn't ruin the movies. Good movie awareness.

He's the kind of person you know is really good at what he does and that he treats his patients with real kindness and compassion.

I’m so happy he’s destroying falsehoods & stereotypes about mental illness.

I am waiting for “Dr. Eric Bender reads thirst tweets” because I know doc’s been getting it and then some. Haha all jokes aside, I think his series is one of the most entertaining, informative, and adheres to sensitivities people often neglect to discuss (fighting the narrative of mental health = violence). Love this. It’s like watching mythbusters.

The reveal of Shutter Island is one of the most difficult, gut-wrenching scenes I’ve watched in a movie. Such an impossibly horrific situation. It makes Leo’s psychosis seem understandable.

Incredibly informative and as someone who has mental health issues it was nice to see something as laid out properly as this ( myself having very poor experiences with therapist and psychologists)

The black swan mirror thing is what I'm experiencing when I dissociate. I can make whatever faces in front of a mirror, but my reflection is just staring at me with a hint of anger. I know that it's not the case, but my brain pushes this image in front of the actual image I'm seeing. That's why I actively avoid any reflecting surfaces when I'm in an episode.

now that he’s reviewed “Split” it would be really interesting to see him take a look at “Moon Knight” especially since it shows how Marc formed his alter, Steven, because of severe trauma and abuse.

Eric should definitely come back. He and the mortition are my favorite experts that have been on GQ

Last year I was working three jobs for a while, and for a few weeks I worked 7 days a week for more than 15 hours a day. at one point I felt like I was so sleep deprived I was feeling weird. I saw things without necessarily seeing it, it was more in a sense of feeling something was there. a really trippy feeling that i dont wanna experience again

My friend has DID and they speak differently sometimes depending on which “personality” is present. They have a little girl personality and act whiney and needy and talk in a little kid voice. It’s very jarring at first when you realize what’s happening, but they never scare me. I just react differently depending on which identity I’m speaking to. I’m more soft and caring and parental when this ID is present. My cousin also has schizophrenia and I’ve seen her in her psychotic episodes. It is scary, but not because they’re threatening or violent. You just want to make sure they’re ok because they’re in a vulnerable place mentally. I love how much Dr. Bender attempts to destigmatize mental health. This is how we should be treating it. ❤️

As someone with bipolar disorder - thank you for constantly reiterating that mental illness does not equate violence.

Shutter Island is such a criminally underrated movie.

Love the new glasses Dr. Bender! Excellent analysis of these movies. Makes me want to rewatch them

Glad to see him back, he’s good at explaining stuff

This guy is easily one of the best for the breakdowns

He's like a mix between Matt Smith and Henry Cavill!

I think this doctor is amazing...I love how he explains everything... and honestly, he most definitely is not bad on the eyes!!!

I definitely would love to have you do an in depth explanation of D.I.D. You explain things pretty dang well and you touched on that a lot here in this video.

Regarding Shutter Island, I'm pretty sure that he was never actually charged with murder in the first place. The entire exercise was the end of a long line of attempts by his old partner and boss to get him to acknowledge what happened but he was knowingly happier in his delusion of what happened, which is why at the end he basically demands to be lobotomized rather than continually be forced to face reality.

Black Swan was a really good depiction of someone in a psychotic break. The best scene that comes to mind for me is when she’s looking at her mom’s paintings

With the sleep deprivation: I used to stay up for 30-72 hours at a time. There was a point once when I was writing a paper, and even though my hands were moving and I was writing just fine, I was hallucinating waves and scenes on the paper and hearing voices. Essentially, I was dreaming with my eyes open, while still conscious. One of the strangest experiences of my life, but when you haven’t had sleep you don’t really get surprised or weirded out so I kinda just went with it.

I have been mentally ill a long time but it was an intense bout of chronic insomnia where I didn’t sleep for a week and then was hospitalized that got me a proper diagnose. I have DID and CPTSD

A Beautiful Mind had an insane depiction of schizophrenia. It's a miracle how John Nash was able to mentally battle it out without medication, and even win a Nobel prize for his groundbreaking research. Mad respect.

I've watched Fight Club with new appreciation recently- during my pregnancy I had terrible insomnia. At its worst I went 8 days without a single minute of sleep (unless you add up the microsleeps, I guess) and it was genuine torture. I had visual hallucinations, including stuff very similar to the mirror scene in Black Swan where I perceived my reflection moving with a lag and barely recognized my own face. The auditory hallucinations were the v worst though. It sounded like unspecific but very angry yelling and growling right behind me. I was constantly bursting into tears, curling into the fetal position, and begging for relief. Wouldn't wish that level of sleep deprivation on my worst enemy.

Great video! I love the explanation simple enough for everyone but also with a lot of well researched info :D

The fact that they included oldboy in this , makes the video of a greater taste n significance to me . The docs cool too . Nicely done GQ

Matt Smith's really took his doctor who role very seriously by getting a degree

I appreciate how he emphasizes the unfortunate way movies stigmatize mental illness. Of course mental illness is a great narrative tool but you just need to be really careful

Awesome video! Love the breakdown of the scenes. A good case of DID is present in the Moon Knight comics along with the TV Series. Oscar Isaac did an amazing job portraying this illness.

Great video! So well explained. Thanks What movies show what goes on in the mind of someone with chronic ptsd that’s non military?

The Dr made the biggest and most important statement of being a Psychiatrist which is being compassionate and empathetic towards patients and see them with endearing respect. He understood everything about life.

"They're not gonna gather captives for another one of the personalities." That line had me in tears! 😂

I’ve had auditory hallucinations due to severe postpartum sleep deprivation. It really is torture. The hallucinations were sudden and quick. Like the sound of a rushing train, etc. I was fully aware of what it was and why it was happening. Finally getting some sleep took care of it.

This is great Can we have part 2 of this please

"Grabbing a grenade launcher is definitely a sign of aggression" Well thank you GQ for getting the professional to clear that up for me!

I love him talking about all mental illnesses without this 'excitement' we often see as if people are diggining into this mystical topic and those with mental illnesses are deeply interesting circus acts.

As someone living with chronic pain I can attest it can and most likely will affect cognitive and emotional skill in long term, there was a period I was set in my mind that ending my own life was the only solution. I methodically started planning the different methods that was least damaging to my body as I still wanted to donate my organs etc, I informed my loved ones and family in a very emotionally deprived and logical way of my decision to give them time to say their good byes etc. Looking back at it I realize how frightening it really was, at that time I already felt dead inside and it was only my physical flesh remaining, I've gone to therapy and rehabilitation and found a way of not living with my pain yet but at least surviving. At that time I wasn't medicated so I could hardly sleep because of nerve pain, my view of the world became distorted due to me alienating myself because I believed no one wanted to help me. Please know how devestating it can be, but with the right medications and physical therapy life can seem livable again, mental health issues doesn't just happen to certain people it can and most likely will happen to many in different variations and caused by different things.

These are my new favorite thing! More Please.

4:55 He was actually snorting powdered milk on set. He’s said his nose has never been the same ever since. Lesson: Don’t snort anything.

I have been sleep deprived for 48 to 72 hours many times on jobs. Same mild auditory and visual hallucinations each time. Somebody far away calling my name and something darting by in my periphial vision. Exhausted but still realize the cause of it. Thanks for posting. Interesting video.

Sleep deprivation is the real deal. My dad was in charge of interrogations in vietnam, he said nothing worked as well as sleep deprivation. It couldn't always be used because it's time consuming and takes several men trading out shifts to make sure someone is kept awake as long as they need to be but when it was used he said it was 100% affective.

As somebody who has experienced extreme sleep deprivation for training purposes in the military, I can attest to the hallucinations. I can easily see if being used as a form of torture.

This guy is a master at his craft, he's also a good presenter and a good explainer. Please, bring him more times to the show!

I love the videos with him. He’s so intelligent, and you can also see that he empathizes with mental health patients. Additionally, I imagine he is what Superman would look like.

The illusion part was interesting to me when he mentioned things being the wrong size. I have had a couple nightmares where there's just this wrong feeling and things feel too big or small. Sometimes it's like that just before going to sleep too

As a mentally I’ll person who is very frustrated with how my diagnosis is depicted in film watching you break these down and explain the parts they got right as well as the parts that aren’t so accurate I just feel so seen I just finished the video where you talked about silver linings playbook and what a manic espouse looks like as well as how they feel I feel very seen and very much less of a freak I have really severe bipolar symptoms and my mania last long periods and I don’t sleep for days at a time and I’m like physically exhausted but I have this compulsion to keep going keep moving keep doing whatever my current obsession is and it’s frustrating then I sleep for days when I come down and it’s ruined my career I can’t even get jobs I’m qualified for anymore and medicine isn’t terribly helpful for me I’m going in for ECT therapy soon so I’m hoping it provides some relief

It feels very calming how a professional psychiatrist doesn't just rule this or that, but explain that there's almost unlimited reasons for what's happening and that there's just not enough information, that it would require further inspection to decide on anything. I'd feel good being diagnosed and helped by him for sure. Just with this review he makes it feel very safe and not the least bit judgmental. Other than the fact that he reminds me of the scarecrow. Which is fancy but concerning.

He's so non-judgmental but also clearly empathetic to the way people with mental health issues are perceived and portrayed. Some of his breakdowns of movie scenes nearly made me cry. Will definitely watch all of his videos.

I've been in therapy for 2 years now and I have the feeling I've spent at least half of it talking about my sleep quality and trying to find out solutions and balance to it with my psychiatrist. And I can see now that most people I know are dealing with sleeping issues.

Doc straight up dropped a Chappelle’s Show reference without missing a beat. And used ‘malingering’ enough that I felt like I was back at boot camp 😂 Well played, sir

He is a great doctor and he even looks like The Doctor. The 11th one, to be precise. Thanks for sharing your expertise, Doctor!

“Grabbing a grenade launcher is a sign of aggression” I concur Dr.

Him talking about sleep deprivation was wiiiild for me because I was so sleep deprived due to my school schedule and there were so many symptoms he brought up that I didn’t think would be linked to that! I’ve really got to improve my sleep next semester😅

When he was talking about crying and sleep, it reminded me of when I’m sleep deprived. When I’ve been trying to fall asleep for hours, and by the way I’ve been doing this for days. I end up sobbing because I’m so exhausted, and soon after I pass out which still doesn’t help as much as real sleep does. But it makes me feel a bit better.

Problem with the Shutter Island analysis, is that when he goes into a dissociative state makes knowing that he was aware of his actions at the time of killing his wife impossible to know. Its not like there is a witness to what happened, and if his state is completely unaware of the crime there is no way to come to that conclusion.

As someone who’s in his psych rotation in med school, Dr. Bender has been immensely educational and insightful

Can't imagine the extreme trauma that people with DID have gone through that they had to protect themselves by dissociating.. you are so strong!

Love what he says about fight club

I've had Schizophrenia since childhood and it's really annoying how movies make us seem like we're just some bloodthirsty monsters who roam around and kill people. Edit: Turns out that I was misdiagnosed all those years but I still believe that it's a misunderstood disorder.

Sleep deprivation was the biggest trip I’ve ever had. Not LSD, shrooms, powder, etc. One and-a-half week without sleep or food made me trip harder than I ever experienced. Complete out-of-body.

So well said

Love this guy's reviews!

It'd be great if he could cover the cases shown in shows like Criminal Minds and Law & Order; also I really like how much he stresses that people with mental disabilities are not inherently violent/bad

In the next episode Dr.Bender will be wearing a leather jacket and smoking a cigarette

Hypnogogic and hypnopompic, Thankyou for my new words of the day!

Thank you for destigmatising mental illness and remarking that being mentally doesn't mean that people are going to be violent. And about making it very clear that anyone can develop a psychotic state. As well as talking about sleep deprivation induced issues and torture though it and isolation.

"grabbing a grenade launcher is a sign of aggression" I don't know why I found that so funny, but I'm laughing

He is so charismatic. He reminds me a little bit of scarecrow in batman begins. But without the insanity

Thank youuuuuuu for mention the over-emphasis on violence and mental illness. It's so frustrating that people seem to think mental illness = violent criminal

I appreciate that this guy has actually seen these movies before doing the breakdown. Sometimes during these breakdowns they're watching a scene for the first time.

As a psychologist myself, this was a very good explanation. Thank you for representing and qualifying the different manifestations of mental illness - very well. ❤️

I think the black swan scene signifies depersonalization or dissociation she sees herself outside of herself, outside of her body.

Didn’t know Matt Smith’s version the doctor was a psychiatrist. I guess it makes some sense.

I liked how he emphasized time after time that violence is not a typical thing for any one with psychological problems

Fightclub is one of my favorite movies so learning the mental ideology behind fightclub and how it’s pretty accurate with the realities of sleep deprivation is amazing 💜

Dr. Bender is rocking those hexagon glasses..

I dig the new do and glasses on Dr. Bender 👍

I have only seen DID one time in my life. Her voice did change. Her entire face almost changed. She truly became an entirely different personality. We saw 3 of hers. One was a little girl. She talked very sweet high pitched. She was a child. Her normal self I guess was another. Her angry self which her voice became very deep and she would be violent. And another version of her that was giggly like a teenager. I guess almost like different times of trauma in her life. I felt so bad for her but also the mean version of her was extremely scary. But otherwise she was very kind.