The Pitt, “arguably the most accurate medical drama of all time” (Arianna Reardon, theeverygirl.com), features “razor-sharp, vulnerable storytelling, [and] unparalleled character building.” Although interesting patients and medical conditions abound, the focus is more on the health/mental health of the staff. Spoilers on selected topics ahead…
The Social Worker
How about Kiara (Krystel V. McNeil), my fellow social workers! Available to both patients and staff, calm and reassuring, caring, knowledgeable, respected, helpful. Can we have more of this, please, in TV and movie world?
An exception to her refreshingly positive role modeling, though, is that she doesn’t deem a particular case of suspected sexual abuse of a (probable) minor to need mandated reporting, citing lack of “proof.” In real life reasonable suspicion of abuse alone should likely trigger a contact to the authorities.
Psychiatry
Actual ER psychiatrist Kayla Simms, MedPageToday, criticizes the depiction of patients’ mental health issues in The Pitt. The series “retreats into caricature, pushing psychiatry to the margins of medical storytelling. In doing so, it reinforces the real-life neglect psychiatry often faces…”
Neurodivergence
Sarah Kurchak, Time, points out that likeable Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) is “brusque but brilliant, filled with just enough savant-like insight to make up for her lack of bedside manner.” Kurchak, herself autistic, recognizes in Mel “a number of behaviors and mannerisms that the average viewer might recognize as autism, ADHD, or a combination of the two that many people in neurodivergent circles have taken to calling AuDHD.”
Mel is super-close, furthermore, to her autistic sister. States Kurchak, “There’s increasing evidence to suggest that there can be a genetic component to autism, and many autistic people end up discovering that they also have parents or siblings on the spectrum.”
On her second admission to The Pitt that day a female patient faces severe health challenges. It’s suggested by Dr. Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) that Dr. Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif) had neglected to do a thorough exam the first time around partly due to her “unconscious bias towards overweight people” (Erin Konrad, Collider). “In fact, this type of weight stigma is incredibly common in real life, and can lead to very dangerous outcomes for the patient.”
Clash of Imperfect Professional Opinions
When the mother of David, an 18-year-old male, reports that he’s written about a desire to “eliminate” a number of females, both Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) and Dr. McKay falter in their differing opinions. “Robby decides not to report the crisis due to his desire not to ‘ruin’ David’s life, but doesn’t take enough time to consider the potential threat he poses to the girls he has listed; while Cassie tries to warn the police to avoid a tragedy, this leaves David feeling dejected and infuriated when he reveals that he was ultimately not responsible for the ongoing tragedy at Pittfest” (Liam Gaughan, Collider).
Robby’s eventual emotional collapse is unsurprising given his apparent lack of processing of a significant grief anniversary and the weightiness of what he faces throughout the day. “It’s the deconstruction of a hero,” states Jose Alejandro Bastidas, The Wrap.
The series “‘was always intended to show that the fragility of our healthcare system is directly proportional to the fragility of the mental health of our practitioners,’ Wyle told TheWrap. ‘To take a guy that we’ve now invested a lot of trust in — a great doctor, a responsible guy, heroic, capable — and then to show that he’s also human, infallible and breakable, it was a big part of what we were trying to do’.”
…An Apt Conclusion
“Wyle noted that emergency room practitioners are at high risk for suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce and violence at work.”
