K-Drama: Finding Happiness in the Little Things

Daily Dose of Sunshine | 정신병동에도 아침이 와요 (2023)

Daily Dose of Sunshine | Netflix

If you enjoyed watching Hospital Playlist and Dr. Romantic, then Daily Dose of Sunshine will be totally up your alley. The K-drama is based in a university hospital and unlike other medical K-dramas, it’s set in the psychiatry unit; one department that we rarely see being talked about in Korea. But it's nice to see that this is slowly changing and becoming more widely discussed. Daily Dose of Sunshine is a gate-away to normalising mental health, which is already a point worth celebrating!

Daily Dose of Sunshine | Netflix

What I love about this K-drama is that each episode has a different storyline - a new patient and thus, different psychiatric diagnosis. It’s an eye-opening watch every episode as I get to know about how vast mental health disorder is, and the symptoms they carry. In each episode, not only do we see what a day looks like for the patient but we also hear about their personal struggles. As a result, I find myself more understanding, empathetic and overcoming stigma that is often carried with some of the mental illnesses. 

Daily Dose of Sunshine | Netflix

We’re put into the perspective of Jung Da-eun (Park Bo Young) as she enters her first day as a psychiatric nurse. She has just transferred from the Internal Medicine department. In a lot of ways, I feel like a lot of us can relate to her. Being inexperienced, she has a LOT to learn from the other nurses. There is just so much depth to unpack in Da-eun’s character. As she’s learning about her patients, she also has her own mental traumas which is slowly revealed as each episode goes on. It’s heartwarming to watch as simply helping these patients, she’s able to heal and overcome her own hardships. 

Daily Dose of Sunshine | Netflix

As each episode focuses on different patients in the psychiatric unit, I’ll just talk about the first episode, which also happens to be Da-eun’s first patient interaction. We’re introduced to a 40 year-old woman named Ri-na (Jung Woo-Sun) who is diagnosed with bipolar personality disorder. These symptoms include sudden energy, quick personality switches and obsession. Her obsessiveness became so bad that she received a restraining order from the guy she so-called her ‘boyfriend’. 

Daily Dose of Sunshine | Netflix

At first, Da-eun wonders how Ri-na developed bipolar personality disorder when she was born into a wealthy family and has it all. I guess this is the first social stigma that this K-drama is trying to address. But the nurse reminds Da-eun (and the viewers) that we’re human after all. She says our minds can be mentally fragile regardless of the situation. After this, Da-eun tries her best to understand Ri-na’s perspective. She learns that Ri-na grew up with little choice on her career, what to eat, wear, even down to who to marry. Instead, all these choices were made by her mum. At 40 years-old Ri-na feels like a little kid with no control over her own life 😢

Daily Dose of Sunshine | Netflix

Soon after their conversation, Da-eun shares this with her mother. Da-eun also tells Rina's mother that she, herself feels most happy when her mom supports her no matter what. This gives Ri-na’s mother a new perspective that she’s never thought about - instead of making choices that she thinks best sometimes, it should be what her daughter thinks is best. By the end of episode one, Ri-na and her mother have overcome misunderstandings and are in the midst of reconcile. With the help of Da-eun and the other nurses, Ri-na overcomes the difficulties and heals 🥰

Daily Dose of Sunshine | Netflix

Daily Dose of Sunshine is not my usual action, fast-paced K-drama but nonetheless is captivating in a different way. It's overcoming social stereotypes and mental illness misconceptions. I think being put in the perspective of Da-eun allows us to learn a lot. She shows us that being compassionate and sympathetic goes a long way. It's also healing to see how Da-eun overcomes her trauma through her job - truely beautiful character development 👏🏻 Get a glimpse into Daily Dose of Sunshine with the trailer here or watch it’s entirety over on Netflix!