Portrayals of mental health in the media are toxic. Photo illustration courtesy of junior Erika Spargo.

  “I didn’t eat for three days so I could be lovely,” is what the character Cassie says in the British TV show “Skins”. She suffers from an eating disorder in the show, which is one of the defining characteristics of her character. While obviously, this is a disturbing theme, the show also fails to follow up with a tangible solution for Cassie to prove to the audience that this issue is treatable. Furthermore, Cassie has multiple lines that portray her mental illness as an aesthetic feature.

  And “Skins” isn’t the only one that does this– TV shows like “Euphoria” and “13 Reasons Why” make mental illnesses look almost desirable. This is especially harmful for teens consuming this media who mistake mental illnesses for something that they are not.

  In “13 Reasons Why”, the protagonist, Hannah, explains her 13 reasons for committing suicide and blames the people who brought her to that point. Instead of encouraging getting help, the show focuses on blaming others and reinforces the idea that suicide is a solution for those facing depression. The show’s intentions may have been to initiate conversations about suicide, shocking statistics disprove this.

  A study from the National Institute of Mental Health reported that suicide rates among Americans aged 10-17 found a 28.9% increase in April 2017, the month after “13 Reasons Why” was released. 

 “There are so many TV shows and movies these days that focus on really heavy topics, and producers have to be careful. Their targeted audience may be adults, but so many teens and kids watch TV-MA and rated-R stuff. They need to stop making mental instability look desirable,” said junior Ainsley Stephens.

  The media must stop perpetuating harmful narratives about mental illness.

Sources: nimh.nih.gov