Breaking Point

- Season 1

(1963)

In the conclusion of a two-part story originating on a special presentation of Ben Casey, the animosity between father and son escalates as each blame one another for the death of Jason Landros' mother. Following his brother's accidental death, Jason's health deteriorates as his father cruelly holds him responsible. Dr. Thompson attempts to uncover the truth behind the death of Jason's mother before the sensitive young man reaches his breaking point.

Teacher John Rollins secretly spent his summer vacation inside a private mental hospital where he underwent therapy for claustrophobia and debilitating fears. He returns to teach the fall semester of high school, but struggles to conceal what he did over the summer from his intuitive and intimidating students.

Wealthy, young, and beautiful Diane Henry has it all, including an oppressive mother-in-law and a milquetoast husband who wants a divorce. Dr. McKinley Thompson navigates Diane through a sea of troubles, watching for whitecaps.

Bird and Snake: Bully disrupts group therapy sessions.

One of Dr. Thompson's patients dies in an accident, leaving his girlfriend to mourn. Reassessing sessions with him, the Doctor determines discussions about the man's past indicate he may have killed himself on purpose and may have been in a suicide pact with the girl, whose miserable childhood left her in psychological turmoil.

A shy young construction worker is troubled by the fact that, while his fellow construction workers--including his beefy, aggressively macho brother--engage in all sorts of "manly" activities like drinking, brawling and chasing women, he has no desire to do any of that. He begins to think that that he may be a homosexual, and comes in for help and advice.

Dr. Thompson treats Anita Anson, whose senatorial incumbent husband Steven no longer appears to be the image she once had of him. When she nearly shoots him to death during a nightmare state, the disturbed woman seeks therapy, which, if it becomes public, could ruin Steven's chances of re-election.

A rabbi struggles with his belief after the death of his son.

Dr. Thompson teams with dedicated therapist Miss Newly to handle the case of Petey Babcock, a seven year old schizophrenic. As Miss Newly works diligently to make contact with the non-communicative boy, who has retreated into a world of his own, the case is jeopardized by Petey's older brother Joey, himself suffering guilt over Petey's hospitalization.

Roy Chase, a distressed salesman undergoing therapy with Dr. Thompson, is accused of sexually assaulting a young girl. After Chase is arrested and brought to trial for the crime, Dr. Thompson faces contempt of court charges when he refuses to reveal confidential statements that Chase made during their therapy sessions.

Mimi Casell, fan club president of Hollywood star Alicia Howard, reacts with uncontrollable crying jags after Howard's waning career is publicly disparaged. Doctors Raymer and Thompson trace the source of Casell'a mental illness to her mother's bullying which has caused the young woman to retreat into a life of fantasy and living vicariously through movies.

A mental ward attendant poses as a psychiatrist and is caught by an unforgiving nurse.

Former stage actress Stella Manville enjoys the retired life she and beloved husband Leon have built for themselves, only Stella fails to recognize that Leon died many years ago. Her concerned sister Clara and Dr. Thompson feel that Stella needs help to destroy the fantasy she has so carefully created and to accept reality. However, Dr. Raymer fears such a shock would effectively end Stella's life as she would no longer have a reason to continue living.

Stunning but deeply troubled model Shelley Osborne Peters arrives following a drunken binge in which she insists she's pregnant. Raymer and Thompson suspect Shelley's manipulative father Walter is the source of her problems rather than her unhappy marriage.

Dr. Thompson conducts an unusual experiment in which unwanted children, many with disabilities or emotional problems, are paired with inmates at a women's prison. There Susan Beaumont, convicted of killing her own crying child, attempts to connect with Laura, a withdrawn thirteen year old..

Dr. Thompson reluctantly agrees to counsel Joseph Baylor, a seventy year old man who learns that he's in perfect health and could live into his nineties, a terrifying prospect for a man whose life thus far has been boring and unremarkable. His attitude slowly begins to change however when he makes the acquaintance of Gertrude Komack, an attractive widow.

A war hero who played a critical part in preparing an atom bomb that was dropped on Japan eighteen years before, now suffers from a massive guilt complex, that causes an old wound to reopen, and strains his relationship with his Japanese wife, who was caught in the blast.

Robert Ryan plays a Hemingway type author whose best days have past. A series of recent "accidents" point to a serious problem. But is it mental or physical in origin or both. The doctors and his wife try to get to the heart of the problem, but the patient isn't interested in helping them.

Fashion designer Alice Koenig has a need to pick up strangers randomly in bars or in the streets.

Carlo Scotti, a meek chef , seeks help from Dr. Thompson for a series of debilitating headaches that seem to not have an organic cause. During therapy Thompson uncovers a guilt complex related to Scotti's criminal past, which has prevented him from marrying Lee, the woman he women he deeply loves.

Dynamic publishing executive Evan Ross meets with Dr. Richards about the company's latest self help book, but Richards quickly surmises that Ross himself is in need of help. Although happily married, he cannot subsist without constant attention from other women which places his marriage and his career in jeopardy.

Young Jenny Cordova, a formerly aspiring trapeze artist in a circus family, faces a lifetime in a wheelchair without psychiatric treatment. Her paralysis is psychological in nature, an unusually strong reaction to her father's accidental death during a trapeze performance that went awry and for which Jenny blames herself.

Single, widowed father Roger Conning rejects psychiatric help but is in serious need after his fourteen year old daughter Julie is the victim of a statutory rape and slips into a state of complete withdrawal. Dr. Richards attempts to heal the desperate father and daughter.

Told in a series of flashbacks, the story shows that while her husband is away on a business trip, a woman slips into a catatonic state, which she goes into under pressure. A standard treatment for this condition can't be used, as it may jeopardize her pregnancy.

After being made one of the top staff, Dr. Phillips has a terrible car accident that leaves him blind. He rages at his new disability, resisting therapy and aid from Dr. Raymer and making an emotional wreck of his wife. Eventually, he takes a course on how to use a seeing eye guide dog.

Smart, elegant Roberta Duncan prides herself on appearing to have the perfect marriage and perfect life, except for a history of migraine headaches. When Roberta suddenly tries to kill herself without noticeable warning signs, Dr. Thompson attempts to uncover the crux of her fears.

Controversy surrounds boxer Rosie Palmer after he loses a match. Palmer swears his opponent knocked him out but film shot at the match shows that he was never touched. When the boxing commission charges him with deliberately throwing a game, Rosie fears he's acquiring his father's bad reputation.

Dr. Thompson is aided by child psychologist Judy Cole to treat Virginia, a withdrawn nine year old girl whose has been a ward of the court and turned away from foster homes due to her sometimes chilling, erratic behavior. Thompson's only clue to the child's psyche is her love of poetry and curious reaction to the name Gypsy.

Chest pains and bouts of sudden childlike hysteria send Dory Costain in search of psychiatric help. An accomplished prima ballerina, Dory is married to Gregory, the owner of a dance school, whose pathological devotion to the cult of dance has created serious conflicts in their marriage.

Vincenzo is an Italian-American loan shark who develops the wounds of the Crucifixion on his palms. He seeks help from the neighborhood priest played by Henry Silva. The priest wants to keep the news of Vincenzo's stigmata quiet and contacts Dr. Thompson but Vincenzo is resistant to the doctor.