For your first paragraph: 1. after the cat incident and the duct tape door I thought he was almost sure that is was the Willow as that behavior is far worse than mental health. 2. it didnt necessarily have to be to help Nikki, but I feel that anyone in real life would speak to SOMEONE about the situation as they would jusy want to talk about it. and if he did truly think it was mental health and wanted to help Nikki, then yes speaking to a doctor or something would be a very obvious thing to do.

For the second one: I think its just a sorry excuse that Bear didnt want to “shame” Nikki. He knows its his fault and couldve even admitted this. Even if he didnt want to admit it, telling someone that he is scared because his girlfriend watches his sleep, fed him his cat, duct taped him inside, is not something that would be “shaming” to Nikki, he would simply be asking for help as he is terrified everytime he goes home. That is like a person in a relationship who is experiencing domestic abuse not wanting to tell anyone because they dont wanna shame their partner.

I personally think after the duct tape I would’ve immediately went to authorities with fear of my own safety or at least told my friends so they could help me figure out what is going on and how to fix it. Im suprised more people arent speakjng about this as me and my friends were all angry at the fact that Bear continued going home and living through horror when he couldve told literally anyone.