How TV Has Addressed Mental Health Issues

Like countless others in this country and around the world I have had my fair share of mental health related experiences Sometimes it was my own mental health in play sometimes it was that of a friend or loved one Having dealt with some forms of depression myself I can tell you that calling it a struggle would be an understatement Imagine all the colors you can see becoming less saturated as the world grows grey and cold around you Imagine wanting to do the simplest of things go outside talk to someone take a shower just for it to feel like it requires ten times the amount of strength you have in your body Imagine feeling selfconscious about those facts and the fact that not everyone else is like thisThank goodness for TV amp8230 which has way more power than we sometimes give it credit for It has the ability to shape our concept of other people to shape our ideas about their conditions and personal motives and most importantly to educate us all about the things that we may not know enough about There have been many shows that have really gone out of their way to respectfully depict and bring the proper brand of awareness to this everimportant topic I39d like to talk about a couple that made an impact on me and helped me to feel less misunderstoodEarly on in my writing career I was put on to the FX series Youamp8217re the Worst and let me tell you it was nowhere near the worst It was quite the opposite in a lot of ways to be honest Besides being irreverent hilarious and plain damn silly at times it was also heartbreaking real honest and even dark when necessary Created by Stephen Falk a man who had a heavy hand in both Weeds and Orange is the New Black Youamp8217re the Worst followed two pretty selfdestructive people through their entertainingly toxic relationship and had absolutely no problem leaning into the intricacies of issues like PTSD and clinical depressionTake Desmin Borgesamp8217 character Edgar for example In the show heamp8217s kind of a goof with a big heart whoamp8217s also best friends with Chris Geereamp8217s character Jimmy even though Jimmy sucks as a friend most of the time Edgaramp8217s also an exmarine suffering from debilitating bouts of PTSD Why Borges never received an Emmy nomination for this role is one of the great TV mysteries of our day At one point he ends up smoking weed which helped him cope with his symptoms way more than the meds provided by the VA but the problem is the VA offered him other benefits as well and those bennies would be cut off if he tested positive for marijuana His choices Stop taking the one thing thatamp8217s been really improving his quality of life or risk losing all the other support provided him by this governmentfunded agencyMeanwhile Aya Cashamp8217s character Gretchen suffers from clinical depression Having loved ones who have dealt with the same and having dealt with some forms of depression myself I can tell you that calling it a struggle would be an understatement Gretchen Edgar even Kether Donohueamp8217s character Lindsay all have a trait or set of traits that they are ashamed of or confused by or ignoring all together and thatamp8217s probably closer to all our respective truths than anything elseNone of us have it all together and most of us donamp8217t know what to do about it Shows like You39re the Worst depict people around my age living lives I might live dealing with things I definitely deal with For me thatamp8217s what TV is supposed to be about Entertain me but also educate me Show me a world where Iamp8217m not aloneHonestly I could go on for days especially given the fact that there are so many shows that if nothing else at least try to do mental health issues some justice Cult classic TV series Community depicted both realistic and ridiculous versions of mental health issues Danny Pudiamp8217s character Abed was always described as being amp8220on the spectrumamp8221 but his actual diagnosis was never really clear He hallucinated one whole episode as being animated Claymationstyle but by the final season it didnamp8217t appear that whatever condition or conditions he may have had were all that serious if still present at allOn United States of Tara Toni Collette brilliantly played a woman whose struggle with dissociative identity disorder caused her to have multiple personalities who took turns taking over her life from time to time with or without her permission USoT was a much more grounded and realistic show than Community and towards the end of the series and with the support of her husband the troubled title character ends up seeing some benefits from dedicated professional help see potentially longterm outpatient treatment The severity of her condition as depicted in the series is probably the most unlikely manifestation of her disorder which is to say her unfortunate habit of fully switching over into a whole other person at random disposition memories motives everything would probably come with only the most extreme cases of this condition but you know that39s entertainmentWhat I do struggle with is the relative absence of shows tackling mental health issues for people who arenamp8217t white Sure Abed is Pakistani and Edgaramp8217s character was vaguely ethnic as far as I remember but beyond NBC39s emotionpowered This Is Us how often do we see Black people dealing with their mental health issues in an open and honest way Why have I yet to see any shows really address the fact that Black mental health has been stigmatized by unwarranted shame and a lack of support that has surely been fueling the suicide rates over the past decadeFXamp8217s Dave is great example of the kind of content we all need more of When the show39s lead semifamous white rapper Dave aka quotLil Dickyquot needed a hype man for his burgeoning rap career he chose his newest friend Gata played by the rapper39s actual hype man of the same name Turns out the pressure of tour preparation and rehearsals sent him off the edge so to speak triggering his bipolar disorder a condition Dave and the boys didnamp8217t know he had They receive him with a completely different tone from that point on now factoring his previously unknown mental and emotional state into the janky behavior he39d been displaying They took a step back to understand then stepped forward to support himObviously there are current shows like the soontoend Pose This Is Us and the soontoreturn Dave that contain some of the best modern to semimodern day depictions of mental health issues among young adults and people of color but that doesnamp8217t mean that enough is happening We can do better Billy Porter has been giving us his all during this season of Pose as far as his character Pray Tellamp8217s struggles with depression and addiction go and I will give him his due in my upcoming piece on Poseamp8217s final season But the man canamp8217t do it all by himselfMental health has to be something that weamp8217re all aware of beyond the month of May We have to continue to normalize talking about it accepting it and learning how to help because itamp8217s not something that only affects a small group of people It affects all of usClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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How TV Has Addressed Mental Health Issues

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Ainsley Andrade

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How TV Has Addressed Mental Health Issues

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