Mental Health, Part I: Discovery and TOS. In space, no-one can hear you scream—whether out of terror or sheer misery. But while Federation doctors seem to hold the cure for virtually any ailment in the barrel of a hypospray, looking after their crews’ mental health can be more challenging. Like the members of any military organization, Starfleet officers experience trauma and loss on a regular basis—not to mention the whole gamut of more everyday psychological trouble: anxiety, depression, phobias, and more.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, the first in a two-part discussion recorded on World Mental Health Day 2018, hosts Duncan Barrett and Clara Cook look at mental health in Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Discovery. They also open hailing frequencies to receive correspondence from listeners who share stories of how Star Trek has helped them through difficult times.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Mailbag (00:03:03) Discovery: Breakdown vs. Fake-out (00:29:20) Saru: The Anxious XO (00:43:45) The Original Series: Criminally Insane? (00:53:15)

Hosts Duncan Barrett and Clara Cook Production Tom Whelan (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)