What I love most about You're the Worst is the way it handles sensitive topics with humor, and Gretchen's (Aya Cash) battle with clinical depression is particularly well-done. As someone who was diagnosed with PTSD and clinical depression in high school, I know firsthand that laughing at the struggle can often be the only way to get through it.
During Gretchen's depressive episodes, she stays in bed for days on end, she self-medicates with booze and drugs (both prescribed and otherwise), and at one point she makes a habit of sneaking out to her car in the middle of the night just to sob. When she does reveal to her live-in boyfriend, Jimmy (Chris Geere), that she has depression, she immediately tells him not to try to "fix" her. Though she initially treats therapy as a joke, she eventually decides to make the most out of it (albeit by tormenting her well-meaning therapist, played by Samira Wiley). Some of the scenes are so funny that I almost feel bad for laughing; others are so heartbreaking that I can barely see the screen through my tears.
Another important element of Gretchen's mental-health storyline is the way she (for better or for worse) pushes away her loved ones in an effort not to burden them. Gretchen understands that her depression is a part of her, even though she doesn't always handle her condition in a healthy way. Keeping her friends and family at arm's length and generally maintaining a steely, armored demeanor aren't necessarily beneficial to her, but it's also extremely realistic and common. Gretchen is deeply flawed, yes — but that's exactly why her raw and unfiltered approach to making it through life with a severe mental illness is so inspiring.
— BS
