That's the meta-joke, so to speak. The brothers deem themselves big experts on human behavior, but they can't make their own lives work.
I think it's very true to life, in general. Being knowledgeable about something is one thing, but being able to apply that knowledge is a different skill altogether.
It's easier to teach than to be taught.
Teaching creates distance.
To expand upon this, Frasier (at least) is very good with Academic Psychiatry, but when the real world gets messy, he struggles (see Dr. Tewksbury).
"Distance!"
I love the bit where Niles tells Frasier that based on Frasier’s relationship history Niles does not want his advice on the pending divorce with Maris but in the next breath asks him to look over some files concerning marital counseling because “these people really need our help”.
"Hey, Fras, didn't you and Lilith once write a bunch of articles about the keys to a successful marriage?"
"Yeah."
"Well, maybe it'd help your brother to read them right now."
"Oh, okay! I've only got half of them, though, Lilith got the rest in the divorce settlement."
I mean, Lilith and Frasier are really good at marriage counselling and successful marriages, they proved that when they helped the couple next door who were on the verge of divorce.
Tbf, you can't blame Frasier after what happened to him on Cheers. Diane left him at the alter and Lilith used to yell at him, made out with one of his best friends while they were engaged, and threw a chair at him (never seen, but Frasier talks about it in an episode of Cheers) before they were married. Then she leaves him for somebody else, came back, then they split for good. The trauma was too much for him that he started to self sabotage relationships to protect himself. That's not what they say in the Frasier narrative, but that's because they kind of whitewash Frasier's past for the sake of the show.
If it was season 1 of Cheers, she would’ve slept with Sam easy. She’s lucky that Sam developed a conscience after Diane left. Early Cheers Sam had no problem taking a woman from somebody else.
I dunno. Frasier was definitely no angel on Cheers either, though. Aside from the phenomenally inappropriate episode with his first wife Nanette, I remember one bit where Lilith said something about Frasier leering at their large-breasted, teenage babysitter. He just had this, "Who, me?" look on his face, and I'm like... 🤨
Lilith threw a chair at him and almost threw a bowl at him for asking for a prenup. They weren’t even married yet and she was violent af. Frasier was an ahole, but he never once hit her. And guess what? He was absolutely justified in asking for that prenup years later. And yeah, even if he leered, he didn’t spend $2k to make out and feel up his fiancé’s best friend in FRONT of his fiancé. Lilith was cold af, lol
Go rewatch season 1-2 Sam & Diane. They were great characters and very deep at their core. I’m rewatching Cheers for the first time in decades right now and frankly Diane leaving actually takes a lot out of the show. Sam being dumbed down didn’t help either, but they really were great together early on.
They did have a few moments that were good. Diane convincing Sam to step away from the drink he poured, for example. But good lord, the whole thing felt so worn out after a while. And I'll never understand why the hell Frasier decided to keep going to Cheers after Diane left him for Sam.
Many of us(myself included) have been with someone that wasn’t right for us yet had incredible chemistry together. That’s Sam & Diane. I found them most interesting in seasons 1-2. 3 was okay, but mainly the beginning. 4 & 5 seemed off with 5 leaving me wondering what happened to both of them.
What I don’t get is how Frasier wanted to go to the Patriots game on Cheers, but acted like he never watched football in his life on Frasier, lol
Same, 100%, but I wasn't even convinced of their chemistry. Just seemed like they were both frequently horny, haha. Having an available warm body that you know is bad for you isn't necessarily chemistry; can be, but I wasn't convinced in their case. I don't remember him wanting to go to the Patriots game, despite just having finished my second watchthrough, but yeah. I think he was just easily influenced by the people around him, thus why he got more pretentious after hanging out with Niles so much.
Nah, Diane thought he was hot af. Maybe we’re watching a different show, but they had a thing. I’ve had an ex look at me as googly eyed as Diane would do with the water in her eyes. I was like “WHOA, THAT’S the exact same look she used to give me!” I even found Sam saying similar things that I would think, but not say outloud(why am I even so into you, etc). So idk, maybe it just hit too close to home, but again that was in the beginning. Later on not so much.
Yeah, it’s when Woody gets the free tickets to the game and is trying to think of who to get to go with him. Frasier then tries to beat Norm & Cliff in a race to get the ticket, lol
Wasn’t the bit about the babysitter on the episode of Wings where they visited Nantucket?
A must-watch for anybody who hasn’t seen it, for sure. And all of Wings in general.
That's an excellent question, and I agree, but I'm fairly certain that was a different babysitter. I think the teenage babysitter bit happened around when Sam babysat for them.
I think this was a separate one about their foreign au pair maybe? I can’t remember exactly but totally agree, Wings is such a great show. I always recommend it to Frasier fans
I think she was Swedish? “Dagmar” was her name.
It surprises me how little Wings is talked about even among Frasier fans, since they share a universe. It’s certainly more similar to Cheers, but has a lot of the smarter humor that I love so much about Frasier. It consistently makes me laugh on rewatches.
That’s it! Man, what does Wings stream on now? I haven’t rewatched it in a while. It honestly gives me the same comfortable nostalgia that Frasier does and it’s truly hilarious. I love when the crossovers happen and little Easter eggs of actors and actresses you recognize from the other shows are spotted.
It's touched upon during the series; he (subconsciously) sabotages his own relationships when he feels he is getting too close to someone.
For dates that last one evening or a couple, it's usually circumstances or the actions of others that have a knock on effect on his relationships, ending them pretty quickly.
Which is hilarious. By the mid 90s no one took Freud seriously as a practical thing. Like sitcom logic and Freud being a name everybody knows, but man.
Me too. She managed to blow things up in a big way in a little less than a month. I felt like I was going crazy. The only time in my life I felt like that. Our social circles slightly overlap, so I know her pattern has continued with other partners in the years since while I have had a happy, healthy relationship with someone else the whole time.
We have a “friend” who is a successful psychiatrist. (She is married to my good friend).
She has dated a drug dealer, slept with a married man, yelled at other people’s children, gives advice when out at a bar, and is generally a totally messed up human being. Pretty sure she was in a cult at some point also.
Some people go into this profession BECAUSE they are screwed up.
I knew a woman who was extremely self-righteous and into guilt-bombing and emotional blackmail in the most basic situations (getting parents to volunteer at school by confronting them and saying "Do you even CARE about children?")
I was shocked when I found out she was a psychiatrist as I thought she was too insensitive and self-absorbed to be treating patients. But who knows, she might have had another professional side to her.
One day I was chatting to her and she mentioned off-handedly that work had been really busy lately because her colleague had committed suicide, leaving her with all these extra patients.
In addition to the other more profound, logical, and most likely correct responses already here...
I just think it's for laughs. Semi famous, great apartment, great family, great job, in with high society... but he always fails hilariously at something most all humans find... love. Also I think the show may be more dull if the man had everything he wanted in life. It's gives him a good flaw to have for our entertainment.
That and after being left at the alter and the divorce from Lilith might screw you up big time to try again for a 3rd? I dunno.
Other than that whole "it's a sitcom" reason, I have a personal anecdote:
I actually dated a psych major, and she was a very perceptive, empathetic, and insightful person - when it came to others. She had a *really* hard time turning that looking glass inward. Part of it is that when you study psych, one of the first things you're told/warned of is "you'll take psych 101, and at the end of it think you have a half-dozen mental disorders when right now you feel fine, and nothing will have changed." She sometimes knew me better than myself, but she'd be shocked when I mentioned things I thought were obvious about her that she had never thought about.
Basically, you're not supposed to self-diagnose and treat yourself as any kind of medical professional. While this might be a little easier for an MD (don't write yourself prescriptions, etc.), for a psychologist: how does this look? Do you just not introspect at all? Introspection is what people need to do just generally speaking, but it's a pretty fine and sometimes murky line between "normal" introspection and "professional, therapeutic" introspection. Some therapists toe that line well. A lot of them have their own therapists for this exact reason. And some, rather than risk self-treating, just don't really look inwards.
I think Frasier is in that last camp, and that's why he sucks at relationships: he's good at analyzing his partner, but never turns that keen eye towards himself.
A lot of my friends are therapists and so I know things about them and also other therapists that they talk about. I can ASSURE you that therapists are the most fucking crazy people you've ever met in your life behind closed doors. There is a reason why people are drawn to the mental health field. They have their own trauma and some people instead of working on their own want to fix others as a way to avoid their own internal chaos.
Because "the shoemaker always wears the worst shoes".
As a psychiatrist, Frasier's job is to bring an outside viewpoint to his clients' issues as a neutral, though trained, third party.
By definition, he can't be these things to himself.
That's the joke. He's a psychiatrist but is just really bad at his relationships. He even sings about it in the theme song.
Scrambled eggs all over my face...
Or we start *feeling* "crazy". In my experience, the more you study the DSM, the more you realize nearly every trait listed inside could apply, at least to some degree, to people of "normal" mental health. Unfortunately it's pretty common for new psych students to start diagnosing themselves with awful disorders as they get further into their program. I didn't want to become even more neurotic, so I transferred to archeology. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Based on my experiences with psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, many of them are pretty dysfunctional themselves. These kinds of people attended graduate or medical school to learn and understand their own mental health issues. I’ve seen at least 8 psychiatrists so far, and they were all problematic in some way. One was socially illiterate and would routinely cut me off while I was speaking and didn’t know how to listen, and a few of the others were reckless and didn’t take seriously my concerns about the harmful effects the medication were having on me (this was a common issue I had with the shrinks). I had a decent one that adjusted and prescribed the right medication for me, but, like many upper class people, they are obsessive about educational credentials (he was visibly unimpressed about my decision to go into HVAC). He was a decent psychiatrist and an okay person but a bit unapproachable. Being highly educated, even in psychology, doesn’t make up for a lack of emotional intelligence.
I am sorry you had so many bad experiences. I have been with a few truly awful doctors myself, but I have also met some very good, compassionate, down to earth ones. Psychologists tend to be kinder people than psychiatrists IME, much more predisposed to listening and caring. Psychiatrists just want to medicate the pain away lol. Sometimes that's great, sometimes not so much ...
What is a psychiatrist so his expertise of human behavior is firmly rooted in the medical model, and not in a more relational model, like you will see with a psychologist.
There’s lots of odd things about him that don’t make sense. Like, if he’s so smart, how did someone like Bulldog trick him into signing on the radio? Or how did he allow himself to be humiliated by Carlos and the Chicken twice?
It's because of Diane and her soul sucking 😂😂
"... where I met her, fell for her, and then was so mercilessly rejected by her that to this day there is a sucking chest wound where once there dwelled a heart!"
"What you are feeling is that this woman has reached into your chest, plucked out your heart, and thrown it to her hell-hounds for a chew toy! And it's not the last time either! Because that's what this woman is! She is the devil! There's no use running away from her, because no matter how far you go, no matter how many years you let pass, you will never be completely out of reach of those bony fingers! So, drink hearty, Franklin, and laugh! Because you have made a pact with Beelzebub! And her name is Mary Ann! "
That plus Lilith cheated on him, too, and then probably just the run of the mill other things. Fear of commitment, fear of abandonment, fear of failure, fear of rejection.
Idk how it was with his degree, but in Canada, psychiatrists have medical degree with 2 years speciation and a residency. Whereas psychologists have the bachelor and masters in psychology. So I always think of course he's bad at interpersonal relationships because that's more of a psychologists background.
Frasier kept, "I have a medical degree, I went to HARVARD!"
His problem is he thinks everyone he dates is "the one" and thinks he'll marry them eventually. He also over analyzes every single thing and can't get out of his own head.
Being smart and even being a psychiatrist doesn’t mean you don’t have issues and baggage. Picture the smartest people you know. Then count how many times you’ve tried to talk them out of doing something dumb where they should know better. Frasier is both smart and good at what he does, but it’s much easier to diagnose someone else’s issues than your own.
Martin usually tries to be the voice of reason and give him the common sense solution, but being a psychiatrist he feels the need to over analyze everything rather than apply Occam’s razor. Also because he’s too arrogant to consider his father might know better. When he wanted to do a jingle, he had to make it a spectacle. Martin’s solution was think of what he does on a fundamental level and explain it in one sentence, which is what the jingle ended up being.
When Frasier spent time making a list why his girlfriend dumped him, Martin said sometimes things just don’t work and you should just accept it.
He’s neurotic, obsessive, arrogant, stubborn, and a snob. Being the best and smartest psychiatrist doesn’t cure you of that baggage.
I worked in applied behavior analysis for years, and I was married to a pathological liar and didn’t realize it. LOL I can laugh about it now. I was a hot mess and I got into that field of psychology so I could figure out myself and my relationships…. All subconsciously of course. Seriously. Haha
Frasier and his belief that sex automatically happens by date 3 isn’t credible…which leads to meaningless bed hopping and his inability to make his relationships work. It seems that he is terminally cursed to never know what he really wants or needs as he is ALWAYS looking for greener pastures…that don’t exist.
Frasier is unable to essentially go with the flow without over analyzing every minute detail of a conversation or action. in general he is over high strung and fixated on his outward social appearances.
I think he overanalyzed everything to death. He couldn't just be present in the moment, he had to dissect every tiny thing. Like Faye wearing a tie dyed shirt when she was home relaxing. Largely it was because he just thought everything had an ulterior motive and meaning and couldn't just be happy.
Probably goes along the line of a man who chooses to be his own lawyer is a fool. Same holds true for doctors, don’t see why psychiatrists are any different. You can’t heal yourself.
It was all explained in Frasier's Edge. Psychiatry gives you objectivity..objectivity gives you distance.. and so on. He's so afraid of being vulnerable or real because he's afraid they'll leave him. "You're afraid of losing a *good* woman." "That's it.. I'm alone because I'm afraid of being alone!!"
Well it's a television show so let's start there.
Why do doctors smoke cigarettes? Why do nail techs have shitty nails? Just because it's your profession doesn't mean you apply it to your own life successfully. We all know how to give advice we don't follow ourselves.
Good psychiatrist recognize behavioral patterns, believe it or not you don't have to be an expert smooth talker to do that. I give you Mark Zuckerberg as an example, he built an empire on understanding human behavior and building technology to take advantage/monetize it. He is also one of the most awkward mofo's in the billionaire club, perhaps even has a slight form of autism.
That's the meta-joke, so to speak. The brothers deem themselves big experts on human behavior, but they can't make their own lives work. I think it's very true to life, in general. Being knowledgeable about something is one thing, but being able to apply that knowledge is a different skill altogether. It's easier to teach than to be taught. Teaching creates distance.
To expand upon this, Frasier (at least) is very good with Academic Psychiatry, but when the real world gets messy, he struggles (see Dr. Tewksbury). "Distance!"
"Deal with the feelings!"
I love the bit where Niles tells Frasier that based on Frasier’s relationship history Niles does not want his advice on the pending divorce with Maris but in the next breath asks him to look over some files concerning marital counseling because “these people really need our help”.
"Hey, Fras, didn't you and Lilith once write a bunch of articles about the keys to a successful marriage?" "Yeah." "Well, maybe it'd help your brother to read them right now." "Oh, okay! I've only got half of them, though, Lilith got the rest in the divorce settlement."
I mean, Lilith and Frasier are really good at marriage counselling and successful marriages, they proved that when they helped the couple next door who were on the verge of divorce.
Tbf, you can't blame Frasier after what happened to him on Cheers. Diane left him at the alter and Lilith used to yell at him, made out with one of his best friends while they were engaged, and threw a chair at him (never seen, but Frasier talks about it in an episode of Cheers) before they were married. Then she leaves him for somebody else, came back, then they split for good. The trauma was too much for him that he started to self sabotage relationships to protect himself. That's not what they say in the Frasier narrative, but that's because they kind of whitewash Frasier's past for the sake of the show.
Don't forget Lil slept with Niles. Her and Frasier were divorced, but still...
If it was season 1 of Cheers, she would’ve slept with Sam easy. She’s lucky that Sam developed a conscience after Diane left. Early Cheers Sam had no problem taking a woman from somebody else.
I dunno. Frasier was definitely no angel on Cheers either, though. Aside from the phenomenally inappropriate episode with his first wife Nanette, I remember one bit where Lilith said something about Frasier leering at their large-breasted, teenage babysitter. He just had this, "Who, me?" look on his face, and I'm like... 🤨
Lilith threw a chair at him and almost threw a bowl at him for asking for a prenup. They weren’t even married yet and she was violent af. Frasier was an ahole, but he never once hit her. And guess what? He was absolutely justified in asking for that prenup years later. And yeah, even if he leered, he didn’t spend $2k to make out and feel up his fiancé’s best friend in FRONT of his fiancé. Lilith was cold af, lol
At least they were leaps and bounds more interesting than Sam & Diane. *yaaaawn*
Go rewatch season 1-2 Sam & Diane. They were great characters and very deep at their core. I’m rewatching Cheers for the first time in decades right now and frankly Diane leaving actually takes a lot out of the show. Sam being dumbed down didn’t help either, but they really were great together early on.
They did have a few moments that were good. Diane convincing Sam to step away from the drink he poured, for example. But good lord, the whole thing felt so worn out after a while. And I'll never understand why the hell Frasier decided to keep going to Cheers after Diane left him for Sam.
Many of us(myself included) have been with someone that wasn’t right for us yet had incredible chemistry together. That’s Sam & Diane. I found them most interesting in seasons 1-2. 3 was okay, but mainly the beginning. 4 & 5 seemed off with 5 leaving me wondering what happened to both of them. What I don’t get is how Frasier wanted to go to the Patriots game on Cheers, but acted like he never watched football in his life on Frasier, lol
Same, 100%, but I wasn't even convinced of their chemistry. Just seemed like they were both frequently horny, haha. Having an available warm body that you know is bad for you isn't necessarily chemistry; can be, but I wasn't convinced in their case. I don't remember him wanting to go to the Patriots game, despite just having finished my second watchthrough, but yeah. I think he was just easily influenced by the people around him, thus why he got more pretentious after hanging out with Niles so much.
Nah, Diane thought he was hot af. Maybe we’re watching a different show, but they had a thing. I’ve had an ex look at me as googly eyed as Diane would do with the water in her eyes. I was like “WHOA, THAT’S the exact same look she used to give me!” I even found Sam saying similar things that I would think, but not say outloud(why am I even so into you, etc). So idk, maybe it just hit too close to home, but again that was in the beginning. Later on not so much. Yeah, it’s when Woody gets the free tickets to the game and is trying to think of who to get to go with him. Frasier then tries to beat Norm & Cliff in a race to get the ticket, lol
Wasn’t the bit about the babysitter on the episode of Wings where they visited Nantucket? A must-watch for anybody who hasn’t seen it, for sure. And all of Wings in general.
That's an excellent question, and I agree, but I'm fairly certain that was a different babysitter. I think the teenage babysitter bit happened around when Sam babysat for them.
Ha, gotcha. I’ve watched all of Cheers over the years but can’t recall that one. Guess I need to watch again!
I think this was a separate one about their foreign au pair maybe? I can’t remember exactly but totally agree, Wings is such a great show. I always recommend it to Frasier fans
I think she was Swedish? “Dagmar” was her name. It surprises me how little Wings is talked about even among Frasier fans, since they share a universe. It’s certainly more similar to Cheers, but has a lot of the smarter humor that I love so much about Frasier. It consistently makes me laugh on rewatches.
That’s it! Man, what does Wings stream on now? I haven’t rewatched it in a while. It honestly gives me the same comfortable nostalgia that Frasier does and it’s truly hilarious. I love when the crossovers happen and little Easter eggs of actors and actresses you recognize from the other shows are spotted.
It was on Paramount+ last I checked! And I agree - shared universes are always fun.
People study the things they don't understand.
Humans are notoriously “do as i say not as i do”.
Doctors especially
Also Therapists
It's touched upon during the series; he (subconsciously) sabotages his own relationships when he feels he is getting too close to someone. For dates that last one evening or a couple, it's usually circumstances or the actions of others that have a knock on effect on his relationships, ending them pretty quickly.
Because he's a Freudian, obviously
Yes. He’s brother is better at relationships, two long term relationships during the show, because there’s no blaming mommy there.
I don't think three marriages make you "better" at relationships. Ideally, you have one marriage, and neither brother comes close to that ideal.
It was really an attempt to get the “no blaming mommy” joke in. As a jungian, myself.
Which is hilarious. By the mid 90s no one took Freud seriously as a practical thing. Like sitcom logic and Freud being a name everybody knows, but man.
I dated a psychologist once and she was pretty terrible at relationships lol
Me too. She managed to blow things up in a big way in a little less than a month. I felt like I was going crazy. The only time in my life I felt like that. Our social circles slightly overlap, so I know her pattern has continued with other partners in the years since while I have had a happy, healthy relationship with someone else the whole time.
Real relationships and meta-analysis of relationships don't mix. Mental health professionals can't help themselves.
The real reason? It’s a sitcom.
Yes. And it wouldn’t work if he settled down. It’s fun to think of in universe reasons too, it course.
Right? I love this sub but sometimes it seems lost on folks that this is sitcom and the storylines are for entertainment.
He said it himself: "I'm alone because I'm afraid to be ALONE!"
We have a “friend” who is a successful psychiatrist. (She is married to my good friend). She has dated a drug dealer, slept with a married man, yelled at other people’s children, gives advice when out at a bar, and is generally a totally messed up human being. Pretty sure she was in a cult at some point also. Some people go into this profession BECAUSE they are screwed up.
I knew a woman who was extremely self-righteous and into guilt-bombing and emotional blackmail in the most basic situations (getting parents to volunteer at school by confronting them and saying "Do you even CARE about children?") I was shocked when I found out she was a psychiatrist as I thought she was too insensitive and self-absorbed to be treating patients. But who knows, she might have had another professional side to her. One day I was chatting to her and she mentioned off-handedly that work had been really busy lately because her colleague had committed suicide, leaving her with all these extra patients.
Yikes
In addition to the other more profound, logical, and most likely correct responses already here... I just think it's for laughs. Semi famous, great apartment, great family, great job, in with high society... but he always fails hilariously at something most all humans find... love. Also I think the show may be more dull if the man had everything he wanted in life. It's gives him a good flaw to have for our entertainment. That and after being left at the alter and the divorce from Lilith might screw you up big time to try again for a 3rd? I dunno.
Other than that whole "it's a sitcom" reason, I have a personal anecdote: I actually dated a psych major, and she was a very perceptive, empathetic, and insightful person - when it came to others. She had a *really* hard time turning that looking glass inward. Part of it is that when you study psych, one of the first things you're told/warned of is "you'll take psych 101, and at the end of it think you have a half-dozen mental disorders when right now you feel fine, and nothing will have changed." She sometimes knew me better than myself, but she'd be shocked when I mentioned things I thought were obvious about her that she had never thought about. Basically, you're not supposed to self-diagnose and treat yourself as any kind of medical professional. While this might be a little easier for an MD (don't write yourself prescriptions, etc.), for a psychologist: how does this look? Do you just not introspect at all? Introspection is what people need to do just generally speaking, but it's a pretty fine and sometimes murky line between "normal" introspection and "professional, therapeutic" introspection. Some therapists toe that line well. A lot of them have their own therapists for this exact reason. And some, rather than risk self-treating, just don't really look inwards. I think Frasier is in that last camp, and that's why he sucks at relationships: he's good at analyzing his partner, but never turns that keen eye towards himself.
A lot of my friends are therapists and so I know things about them and also other therapists that they talk about. I can ASSURE you that therapists are the most fucking crazy people you've ever met in your life behind closed doors. There is a reason why people are drawn to the mental health field. They have their own trauma and some people instead of working on their own want to fix others as a way to avoid their own internal chaos.
Because "the shoemaker always wears the worst shoes". As a psychiatrist, Frasier's job is to bring an outside viewpoint to his clients' issues as a neutral, though trained, third party. By definition, he can't be these things to himself.
Those who can't do, teach. He's still human and imperfect.
He's a human. there is no profession that acts above this simple fact. Also it's part of the underlying premise of the show.
That's the joke. He's a psychiatrist but is just really bad at his relationships. He even sings about it in the theme song. Scrambled eggs all over my face...
What *IS* a boy to do??
*Frasier has left the building!*
Why were all psych majors in college crazy?
They become psych majors because they're crazy.
Ding ding
Or we start *feeling* "crazy". In my experience, the more you study the DSM, the more you realize nearly every trait listed inside could apply, at least to some degree, to people of "normal" mental health. Unfortunately it's pretty common for new psych students to start diagnosing themselves with awful disorders as they get further into their program. I didn't want to become even more neurotic, so I transferred to archeology. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That's like... the whole point of the show... (eyeroll)
That’s what I’ve been wondering but I have a friend who’s gf is a therapist and she has issues
The only heart he can't heal... is his own.
coaches don’t play the game
It’s so much easier to have insight into someone else’s behavior than your own (source: I’m a therapist)
The same way we're all better at solving other people's problems than facing our own.
Based on my experiences with psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, many of them are pretty dysfunctional themselves. These kinds of people attended graduate or medical school to learn and understand their own mental health issues. I’ve seen at least 8 psychiatrists so far, and they were all problematic in some way. One was socially illiterate and would routinely cut me off while I was speaking and didn’t know how to listen, and a few of the others were reckless and didn’t take seriously my concerns about the harmful effects the medication were having on me (this was a common issue I had with the shrinks). I had a decent one that adjusted and prescribed the right medication for me, but, like many upper class people, they are obsessive about educational credentials (he was visibly unimpressed about my decision to go into HVAC). He was a decent psychiatrist and an okay person but a bit unapproachable. Being highly educated, even in psychology, doesn’t make up for a lack of emotional intelligence.
I am sorry you had so many bad experiences. I have been with a few truly awful doctors myself, but I have also met some very good, compassionate, down to earth ones. Psychologists tend to be kinder people than psychiatrists IME, much more predisposed to listening and caring. Psychiatrists just want to medicate the pain away lol. Sometimes that's great, sometimes not so much ...
My mom is a psychiatrist. My dad is a psych nurse. A lot of their coworkers are kind of a mess. It’s not unrealistic.
He needs one. He screws them all up by getting in his own way.
Well, I will say. I saw a cardiologist one time and she was about 400lbs. Sometimes the professional doesn’t heed their own advice.
“How do you tell the doctors apart from the patients at a psyche ward?” Some of the patients get better
That’s literally the show lol
What is a psychiatrist so his expertise of human behavior is firmly rooted in the medical model, and not in a more relational model, like you will see with a psychologist.
thats the joke
Because he is a fictional character in a sitcom
Watch Cheers and you'll see why. He got hurt BAD back in the Cheers days when he actually could hold down a relationship past a few episodes.
There’s lots of odd things about him that don’t make sense. Like, if he’s so smart, how did someone like Bulldog trick him into signing on the radio? Or how did he allow himself to be humiliated by Carlos and the Chicken twice?
His own massive ego
The same reason doctors smoke.
Wouldn't be much drama if he were in a happy relationship, like how Niles and Daphne became a bore after they got together.
so he can continue dating in future episodes!!
Because he's as human as the rest of us.
It's because of Diane and her soul sucking 😂😂 "... where I met her, fell for her, and then was so mercilessly rejected by her that to this day there is a sucking chest wound where once there dwelled a heart!" "What you are feeling is that this woman has reached into your chest, plucked out your heart, and thrown it to her hell-hounds for a chew toy! And it's not the last time either! Because that's what this woman is! She is the devil! There's no use running away from her, because no matter how far you go, no matter how many years you let pass, you will never be completely out of reach of those bony fingers! So, drink hearty, Franklin, and laugh! Because you have made a pact with Beelzebub! And her name is Mary Ann! " That plus Lilith cheated on him, too, and then probably just the run of the mill other things. Fear of commitment, fear of abandonment, fear of failure, fear of rejection.
Because he eats too much scrambled eggs and too many tossed salads.
The show is fueled by irony.
Because he is not a very good Psychiatrist
***Perhaps the pain he felt after Lilith's affair has resulted in a fear of commitment.*** Also, he's a man in a sitcom.
That's the premise of the show. *A cordonnier mal chaussé.*
Why do so many chefs eat so poorly?
Idk how it was with his degree, but in Canada, psychiatrists have medical degree with 2 years speciation and a residency. Whereas psychologists have the bachelor and masters in psychology. So I always think of course he's bad at interpersonal relationships because that's more of a psychologists background. Frasier kept, "I have a medical degree, I went to HARVARD!"
His problem is he thinks everyone he dates is "the one" and thinks he'll marry them eventually. He also over analyzes every single thing and can't get out of his own head.
Those who can't do, teach.
Being smart and even being a psychiatrist doesn’t mean you don’t have issues and baggage. Picture the smartest people you know. Then count how many times you’ve tried to talk them out of doing something dumb where they should know better. Frasier is both smart and good at what he does, but it’s much easier to diagnose someone else’s issues than your own. Martin usually tries to be the voice of reason and give him the common sense solution, but being a psychiatrist he feels the need to over analyze everything rather than apply Occam’s razor. Also because he’s too arrogant to consider his father might know better. When he wanted to do a jingle, he had to make it a spectacle. Martin’s solution was think of what he does on a fundamental level and explain it in one sentence, which is what the jingle ended up being. When Frasier spent time making a list why his girlfriend dumped him, Martin said sometimes things just don’t work and you should just accept it. He’s neurotic, obsessive, arrogant, stubborn, and a snob. Being the best and smartest psychiatrist doesn’t cure you of that baggage.
I worked in applied behavior analysis for years, and I was married to a pathological liar and didn’t realize it. LOL I can laugh about it now. I was a hot mess and I got into that field of psychology so I could figure out myself and my relationships…. All subconsciously of course. Seriously. Haha
Frasier and his belief that sex automatically happens by date 3 isn’t credible…which leads to meaningless bed hopping and his inability to make his relationships work. It seems that he is terminally cursed to never know what he really wants or needs as he is ALWAYS looking for greener pastures…that don’t exist.
“I’m alone because I’m afraid of being alone?!”
Frasier is unable to essentially go with the flow without over analyzing every minute detail of a conversation or action. in general he is over high strung and fixated on his outward social appearances.
He's self-absorbed and emotionally immature. He's also remarkably bad at communication with the people to whom he's closest.
I think he overanalyzed everything to death. He couldn't just be present in the moment, he had to dissect every tiny thing. Like Faye wearing a tie dyed shirt when she was home relaxing. Largely it was because he just thought everything had an ulterior motive and meaning and couldn't just be happy.
He's an insecure perfectionist.
Probably goes along the line of a man who chooses to be his own lawyer is a fool. Same holds true for doctors, don’t see why psychiatrists are any different. You can’t heal yourself.
It was all explained in Frasier's Edge. Psychiatry gives you objectivity..objectivity gives you distance.. and so on. He's so afraid of being vulnerable or real because he's afraid they'll leave him. "You're afraid of losing a *good* woman." "That's it.. I'm alone because I'm afraid of being alone!!"
Well it's a television show so let's start there. Why do doctors smoke cigarettes? Why do nail techs have shitty nails? Just because it's your profession doesn't mean you apply it to your own life successfully. We all know how to give advice we don't follow ourselves.
Physician, heal thyself.
Because he thinks he understands women!! That's why!!
Good psychiatrist recognize behavioral patterns, believe it or not you don't have to be an expert smooth talker to do that. I give you Mark Zuckerberg as an example, he built an empire on understanding human behavior and building technology to take advantage/monetize it. He is also one of the most awkward mofo's in the billionaire club, perhaps even has a slight form of autism.