Russian Doll (Netflix)

[Griflette]

Has anyone else seen Russian Doll? What did you think?

I watched it a few months ago and found myself relating to the themes/metaphors so strongly it prompted a crisis (that I would now identify as "unintegration" in Gretchen Schmelzer's 5 stages) which led to me realising I had CPTSD.

Nadia's denial of her feelings, her mother's mental health problems, the way she uses humour and prizes her independence (really avoidance), literally being haunted by her inner child... this all spoke to me so deeply. And Alan's perfectionism and attempts to control everything, his shame in seeking help were familiar too.

*TW death, violence, suicide, substance abuse*

The series is really funny, compassionate, and ultimately very life affirming but it is quite violent. The central metaphor is that the character gets stuck in a Groundhog Day time loop which ends when she dies. There's only one slightly gory scene, but it's still hard to watch. There is also a character who is suicidal and that is a big theme of the show. And there is some excessive drinking and drug taking.

After I watched it I just couldn't get the show out of my head for days. I read this article about the show written by someone with CPTSD and things started clicking into place! I realised this is what I was dealing with and my therapist confirmed it.

(Same TW as above and also spoilers!)

Russian Doll and The Seemingly Never-ending Cycle of Trauma by Courtney Enlow, Syfy https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/russian-doll-and-the-seemingly-neverending-cycle-of-trauma