10 Lessons About Mental Health From Bojack Horseman And Steven Universe

Though mostly covered in the previous entry, the physical manifestations of trauma and PTSD doesn't quite cover how it continuously affects everyday life, as opposed to simple moments or visual cues.

There's an entire scene in Steven Universe that covers this from a medical standpoint, explained by Connie's mother Dr. Maheshwaran, when she discovers Steve's many, many fractured and fused bones.

“Adverse childhood experiences or childhood trauma can have a long lasting impact on how your body responds to stress.”

Steven is unable to respond to normal emotional stressors normally, as his body is used to life-threatening situations, outright mirroring the trauma of people, including children, who have experienced war or extreme poverty.

Despite not being in danger, Gina now lives with heightened sensitivity, triggers, and extremes of mood. Hollyhock lives with panic attacks, especially when near addictive substances. Bojack himself lives with all of these, alongside self-hatred and self-destructiveness that has been with him since season one - since a lot of his trauma comes from childhood.

The fact that Bojack doesn't know who he is when he's sober - until he's sober - shows the lasting impact of trauma, especially childhood trauma, on your life.