Starring Park Bo-Young, Daily Dose of Sunshine premiered on Friday, November 3, 2023. The series follows the story of nurse Jung Da-Eun. She transfers to the psychiatry department and adjusts to life and patients there while navigating her own mental health challenges. The show skillfully portrays mental health and has been popular among viewers.
The 12 episodes K-drama documents the stories of various characters, each dealing with their mental health struggles. Moreover, by the end of the episode, the writers ensure that all of these characters receive closure and prioritize their mental needs beyond anything else. The central character, nurse Jung Da-Eun, also becomes a better person after her learning experiences.
Park Bo-Young’s Daily Dose of Sunshine: What happens in the end?
Episode 12 of Daily Dose of Sunshine showed all the characters ending up in happy places in their lives. The last episode also encapsulates the final patient Byeong-Hui’s journey. Her plan of becoming a pilot is hindered by her mother, which affects her mental health. However, nurse Jung Da-Eun (Park Bo-Young) helps her with coping mechanisms to avoid self-harm, which eventually saves the patient’s life in the end.
The show also closes down on Jung Da-Eun’s mental health. Throughout the series, the nurse struggles with her mental health. She struggles to cope with people’s emotions and feels like she’s a burden to fellow colleagues due to her past issues. When admitted in the hospital after her inpatient treatment, she fails to recognize having any mental health issues. The series smartly showcases how most individuals don’t accept having any mental health concerns.
However, she soon realizes that she would have tried to kill herself due to which she lands up in the hospital for treatment. Viewers get a glimpse of where her mental health issues stem from. After her father passed away, her mother took over all of the responsibilities. This causes Da-Eun to suppress her emotions and feel like a burden, eventually leading to a breakdown.
Da-Eun’s medical admission goes public in the hospital. As a result, the patients’ families protest for her to be fired. However, all of the hospital staff stands with their nurse and soon the issue gets resolved. In the end, Da-Eun realizes her true purpose of serving in the psychiatry department and also the importance of maintaining her mental health.
Da-Eun also has a happy relationship with Dr. Dong Go-eun (Yeon Woo-Jin).
Other characters also receive closure on the Park Bo-Young-led K-drama
Another prominent character in the series is nurse Min Deul-Re (Lee E-Dam). Throughout the series, she struggles with her abusive mother and family constantly asking for money. This lands her in debt and makes her life even more difficult. Initially, she decides against dating Dr. Hwang Yeo-Hwan (Chang Ryul) because of these reasons.
However, Dr. Hwang Yeo-Hwan’s continued support enables her to cut ties with her mother and live happily as a couple. She also realizes her true passion of going on a cruise and begins to pursue the same, leaving the psychiatry department. She understands that being a nurse was a profession she embarked on due to financial constraints.
Although Deul-Re resigned from the psychiatric ward, she worries that her new career might joepardize her relationship with Dr. Hwang Yeo-Hwan. However, the latter assures her and encourages her to pursue her dreams. The team at the hospital gathers to give her a farewell party, where everyone is emotional. The nurses also end up hugging each other, displaying their strong bond in the series.
Jung Da-Eun’s best friend, Song Yoo-Chan (Jang Dong-Yoon), is also able to manage her panic disorder and gets hired at a well-known company. But when the new colleagues push him to overwork, he remembers his previous company that did the same and led him to quit. This time, however, he takes a stand for himself, creating a good work-life balance. He also works on his feelings towards Da-Eun and roots for her relationship with Dong Go-eun.
The series gives each character their own stories while beautifully seaming it all together with the rest of the cast. The drama shows several mental health topics, including disorders and stigma.
All episodes of Daily Dose of Sunshine are currently streaming on Netflix.
