Editor’s Note: The following column contains references to self-harm.
Your favorite television show is dramatized. Shocker! It includes flying dragons, intelligent zombies, and little girls named after numbers with creepy magical powers. Yet sometimes, that same dramatization can include depictions of serious mental health issues such as depression, panic attacks, and suicide. But if the point of media entertainment is to hook audiences, what’s the harm in depicting a panic attack with over-the-top physical reactions that simply aren’t accurate?
Over the years, mental health has drawn itself to the forefront of society’s attention. From former President Joe Biden’s ambitious mental health agenda to Illinois’ newly mandated school Mental Health Days, these changes have been a result of a new thinking: that wellbeing no longer applies to just our bodies, but to our minds as well.
But we don’t just see mental health arising in governments or schools. Now, everyone can have a front-row seat to seemingly realistic depictions of mental health struggles, accurate or not. From the glorification of suicide to the inaccurate depiction of depression symptoms to the comical view of various disorders, the media often fails to accurately represent mental health. Too often “mental health struggles” are made to be the main focus of a movie or television series and yet still grossly mischaracterized and misrepresented by the script, actors, and directors.
Suicide is one case in particular where we see it commonly misrepresented in media. On March 31, 2017, streaming platform Netflix debuted 13 Reasons Why, a television series adapted from the book by Jay Asher. In this show, high schooler Clay Jensen deals with the sudden suicide of his friend, Hannah Baker. After her death, Baker leaves behind 13 tapes for 13 of her classmates who she believes were responsible for her depression and subsequent suicide. Throughout the first season, viewers see each of her “13 reasons” struggle with the guilt of causing Baker’s death.
As the audience watches how Baker’s exposé-style tapes about her suicide ruined the lives of her bullies, it seems as if she chose to self-harm not because she was struggling with an internal mental battle but because she wanted those 13 people to suffer as much as she did. And that’s exactly what happens. In the end, all 13 people feel immensely guilty about their actions, and Baker gets her justice through suicide.
It’s incredibly ironic: the face of the production, executive producer Selena Gomez, told viewers that the reason she supported the show was to highlight mental health struggles, yet the film series failed to do any research on their graphic portrayal of suicide. It was so dangerous that the National Association of School Psychologists warned viewers to not watch the show because “its powerful storytelling may lead impressionable viewers to romanticize the choices made by the characters and/or develop revenge fantasies. Suicide is not a solution to problems.”
Based on the show, suicide isn’t a serious, devastating mental health issue driven by low self-worth, pressure, stress, or a myriad of other factors, but rather as a childish act for attention and a means to hurt other people. That only further drives the stigma surrounding suicide today, that those who deliberately harm themselves are selfish, cowards, and attention-seekers.
When people view suicide in that manner, it can lead to two scenarios. First, friends may be unable to identify if their loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts or may be unable to take their struggles seriously. Second, those struggling with suicidal thoughts become more reluctant to seek help for fear of being judged in the way the stigma perpetuates.
Teen dramas like 13 Reasons Why are for young audiences who might be more susceptible to accepting those ideas. However, oftentimes, shows targeted towards older, more mature audiences can use accurate, stigma-breaking representations of mental health in the media. Take Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, which follows the titular character as he coaches a British soccer team while struggling with his mental health after a failed marriage, distance from his child, and the trauma of his father’s suicide.
But what could have been a dramatized, exaggerated depiction of Lasso’s struggles was instead an accurate representation of panic attacks and the process of therapy. To increase dramatic effect, the media can often show characters having panic attacks through more exaggerated, showy symptoms for a short duration of time. Characteristics that the Mayo Clinic tells us aren’t true. Rather, panic attack symptoms can include trembling, dizziness, and chills.
In Season One, Lasso experiences several panic attacks, in which his hands tingle, affecting Lasso’s seemingly normally easy job of coaching. According to critics and mental health professionals, the show’s depiction of panic attacks was accurate and appropriate to the level of trauma Lasso had.
Contrary to the teen-centered 13 Reasons Why, Ted Lasso’s second season focused on Lasso’s journey of seeking help from the team’s sports psychologist, Dr. Sharon Fieldstone. At first, Lasso is reluctant to open up to his therapist and showcases self-doubt. But over time, because the show continues to depict Fieldstone as a pillar of support, compassion, and understanding, Lasso eventually opens up about his trauma, leading him onto a path of new self-discovery and acceptance of his mental health struggles that isn’t depicted in 13 Reasons Why.
Lasso’s therapy process isn’t depicted as a quick, magical solution for his panic attacks, yet it does improve his relationship with his family, team, and, most importantly, himself. He’s more understanding, relaxed, and even helps others around him come to terms with their mental health struggles.
Hailed as being more than a representation of mental health but a lesson for every viewer by critics and mental health professionals, Ted Lasso’s incredibly accurate representation of a specific mental health issue and the rocky road to recovery can be. For example, seeing what a panic attack realistically looks like can help viewers recognize when others around them are having them as well and provide the necessary support. On the other hand, what I think is the most important, is its rejection of the norm that “strong” people, specifically men, shouldn’t be struggling with mental health.
Oftentimes, we see a stigma that portrays men, who are stereotyped as physically, mentally, and emotionally stronger. They are supposedly incapable of struggling with depression, anxiety, or suicide, which are viewed as “weaknesses”. But Lasso’s struggle with those same so-called “weaknesses” shows audiences that mental health struggles aren’t confined to one gender.
Additionally, Lasso’s therapy sessions — which were full of accurate dialogue presenting psychologists as compassionate tools for support — encourage audiences to seek out mental health resources such as therapists or hotlines. Again, this fights the long-seen stigma that reaching out for help will only result in shame and ridicule. When Lasso finally shares his trauma and struggles with the world, he is instead accepted by his psychologist, family, and the general public. That gives viewers a fresh perspective that they don’t get from 13 Reasons Why. They understand: If I’m struggling with depression, anxiety, or anything else, it’s ok for me to ask for help.
Overall, contrary to 13 Reasons Why, Ted Lasso provides an example of how the media should represent mental health struggles to audiences. Not as a dramatic tactic to hurt others, but rather a hidden internal battle that can be combated by reaching out for help. It sends the right message to viewers: your mental health struggle is normal, accepted, and can be talked about. Ted Lasso was such a huge success that its cast was invited to the White House to discuss with President Biden the importance of mental health advocacy.
Moving forward, as films and television shows continue to become a form of expressing deeper messages, directors, producers, and actors must strive to depict mental health struggles in their most accurate form. Viewers do more than just watch a show; they directly take in the actors’ work and the story’s world as a reflection of our society.
As a result, the exaggeration of mental health issues only backs up stigmas and perpetuates the loneliness and fear so many face today. If we truly want to become a world that acknowledges and doesn’t shame mental health struggles, it starts with the portrayal of the world on our screens.