The Importance of Representation of Mental Heath in Mainstream Media

At around 3:50 pm every Tuesday, I go to a tan building on Flanders Street. I enter the first office on the fourth floor. I flip a rewired light switch and wait. At exactly 4:00pm nearly every time, I am greeted by my therapist. 45 minutes later I’m either out of the office and in the car, or, once every four weeks, I sit in that same waiting room again, waiting for someone else. At exactly 5:00 pm nearly every time, I am greeted by my psychologist, who has given me a prescription for 10 milligrams of Prozac to take once a day. I’ll save you the googling and go ahead and tell you it’s an antidepressant/antianxiety medication, but if you want to know more, you can find information here. Although this entire process may sound strange or foreign for you, (or perhaps not; I don’t wish to make assumptions), it’s a routine for me.

I’ve noticed something, however. Whenever I tell people what I just told you, I get two reactions: surprise and pity. To be honest, I never quite understood why. To me, taking meds and going to psychotherapy weekly isn’t strange at all… it’s normal, even. I guess the prospect of being totally normal and able to function properly is as crazy to me as the thought of not being normal to other people. I, in part, blame this on the portrayal of mental illness in the media.

When a TV show or movie has a character that has a mental illness, I find that oftentimes, unless done very carefully, instead of raising awareness they create a sort of oversimplification, or romanticization of them. This is, as it would be expected, a problem. Take the show 13 Reasons Why, for example. Even though people praised it for bringing to light the struggles of depression and the effects of suicide throughout a community, there were concerns. Reports of “copycat” suicides started cropping up (Link to an article about that here .). People started complaining that images and scenes in the series were disturbing and potential triggers to others who had suffered or were suffering from mental illnesses. On the other hand, one could argue that it shed a light on a dark, yet very important topic.

For a long time, I wasn’t sure if I should say something. After all, any time I met someone who was depressed, they always seemed to have it worse than me. Even when there were characters in books and movies who were mentally ill, they always seemed to not want to get help. It didn’t make sense that they would be so against it when all I wanted was to get better. It made me feel like I was faking it, that I had made up this problem for attention. Oftentimes, people who live with mental illnesses are portrayed as not wanting to get better, as actively fighting against taking meds or going to therapy. To me that just seems stupid and dangerous. It makes it feel like you’re doing something wrong when you seek help, which is exactly opposite the case.

I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s important to know that you’re not alone. Although sometimes it might feel that way, and although everyone in the magazines and on TV look perfect, they’re not. There are people out there who know what you’re going through. Help is there if you need it, and don’t be afraid to seek it.

Resources:

National suicide prevention hotline -you can talk to a trained worker confidentiality in emergencies.

The quiet place project -a great resource to stop destructive thoughts or actions and to help you calm down.

7 cups -free online counseling (This shouldn’t take the place of professional help, but can be a valuable resource for a number of things.)