This drama has a touching storyline that encompasses education on mental health issues, realistic struggles working in the psychiatry department and relatable characters. In my opinion, the greatest strength of this drama is its relatability. It doesn't strive to be dramatic or over the top. Instead, it shows us the daily lives of the characters involved, just like its title - Daily Dose of Sunshine. As someone who has had mild panic attacks before, I found the illustration of panic attacks fairly realistic. Another good example would be the romance storyline, it is normal, it feels like it could realistically happen and does not involve any excessive development. However, if you have a history of mental health issues, I would suggest to spread out the episodes or just watch 1-2 episodes first and see how it goes because some episodes can be triggering for different populations.

My only quip with this drama is its overt focus on clinical recovery despite its evident attempt to increase awareness about mental health. It seems like the story it is trying to express is "Ok, I give you medication that suits you and then you are on your own". There is little show of therapy, counselling and many other factors that help a person with mental health issues to not only attain clinical recovery, but also functional and personal recovery, which are the three domains of recovery. To me, it makes zero sense to discharge someone with little coping strategies or community/social support with just outpatient psychiatric appointments. However, considering that their primary focus was on nurses, it is still somewhat acceptable. Additionally, I have no knowledge of the healthcare system in South Korea, thus I am not sure what is their current clinical model for mental health.

Moving forward, if this drama has a second season or if there are other similar dramas, I do hope they put a greater focus beyond doctors/nurses to the many people who are involved in the therapeutic process, such as social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists and spiritual workers. I also hope that they apply models such as the Clinical-Functional-Personal Recovery model or C.H.I.M.E. model of recovery to spread the message on what comprehensive recovery in mental health involves. Alternatively, perhaps they could focus on community mental health, to show a different area of rehabilitation.

Overall, I did enjoy the story and pace of this drama and do recommend you to watch it if you enjoy slice-of-life and storylines beyond the usual.