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In The World's End, Nick Frost's character Andy notices this wristband that Gary King was wearing.

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I suppose that it's connected to the Alcoholics Anonymous-like support group meeting towards the beginning of the movie. But what does it mean exactly? What is he suffering from? Are we given any clues during the support group scene?

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    Looks like an ID band that a hospital might put on an in-patient.
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Commented Sep 23, 2013 at 19:19

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The answer is hidden below, because it is spoiler-ish. These are things that were inferred.

Simon Pegg's characters has a wristband because he was in a hospital because he tried to kill himself, the group that he was in was a support group to help him deal with things. This all comes out when Nick Frost see's the bandages on the wrist and asks what happened and Pegg replies that everything was supposed to be awesome after they graduated and it never got any better.

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  • Thanks. That makes sense in terms of the plot. I would still appreciate a little more concrete evidence. Won't patients who accidentally OD'd also get such a band? Is there any reason why he couldn't have simply removed it? Why would he keep it on?
    – coleopterist
    Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 5:01
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    It could be an OD, but that wouldn't explain the bandages on the wrists. He could have removed it, but then you take away the 10 minute scene where he and Nick Frost are fighting and you have no explanation about what the beginning of the movie was about. Albeit far from official, wikipedia supports my answer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World's_End_(film) - I did not edit it :)
    – drneel
    Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 11:21
  • I agree with the answer, I also think Simon confirmed this at some point. It also explains why Gary didn't want to pull his sleeves up/expose his forearms when the others wanted to know if he was human or not by checking for an elbow scar, because it would have revealed his weakness and probably unwillingly encourage a rather difficult conversation regarding the attempt.
    – user23716
    Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 17:34
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Watch the movie with the commentary on, Simon specifically says that his character, Gary, was committed to treatment after trying to commit suicide. Also, Gary's journey through the Golden Mile was also a suicide mission, he didn't care if he lived at that point as he had nothing to live for.

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It's possible to get the medical wristband for overdosing, but it doesn't tie into the story or his character as well. Those are the bandages they give you if you attempt suicide by slitting your wrists. If you survive the attempt and the doctors are able to save you, you'll definitely have that bracelet. That's why he didn't want to raise his sleeves up earlier in the movie, that's why Andy reacts more softly to that revelation: "You need help Gary"

Andy knows Gary is an alcoholic, Andy knows he does or used to do drugs. That isn't a surprise and doesn't tie into the themes of the film or the conversation they have. The emotional climax here is when they reveal the reason for Gary's fixation on the Golden Mile, and the depths of his depression that led him to attempt the ultimate act of escapism from his misery.

This and the scene just before it in The Hole in the Wall are two heartbreaking scenes that give such incredible depth to his character, and create more empathy between me and a fictional person than I can recall feeling.

This is art

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