Hysteria ‘R’ Us: What Is Wrong With Phyllis On Young and the Restless?

Phyllis Summers has never been a paragon of mental health on The Young and the Restless. This is a woman who lied about her son’s parentage to snag a man who wanted nothing to do with her, then stalked the man’s ex-wife on her honeymoon with another guy – and left dead seafood in their bed.

The Young and the Restless: A Case For Crazy

She also ran down said ex-wife with her car and also got the other guy in the process. Phyllis is crazy. Check. But, lately, her craziness has been even more noticeable than usual as, instead of going after the big fish (see what we did there?), she has been flying off the handle at the most trivial of provocations.

Exhibit A

Most adults expect their children to grow up and embark on lives of their own. It’s normal. It’s healthy. (We personally, have one son graduating from college next week, and another heading off to college in a few months. ‘Tis the circle of life.) Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) seemed to understand that the first time her precious Supergirl left town. And the second.

Yet, the third threw her into unparalleled paroxysms of hysteria. How dare Summer Newman Abbott (Allison Lanier) move to Italy with her husband in order to take her dream job? Did she not realize how this would crush her mother? Phyllis couldn’t stop shrieking about it for literally weeks!

Exhibit B

Now Summer is back in Genoa City, but Phyllis has another catastrophe to rip her head out over. Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) is back from the dead, and Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) are daring to talk to her. Worse, they are daring to not scream at her 24/7.

Luckily, Phyllis is here to pick up the slack. The calmer Diane is, the more wound up Phyllis gets, to the point where she comes off as completely unhinged. Does she know that she’s the one coming off looking like a crazy person? And is anyone considering getting her, you know, some professional help?

The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Genoa City, check out all the latest that’s been posted on Y&R spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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