With media becoming more prevalent in daily life, more movies, television shows and news outlets are covering a variety of issues, including mental health.
People’s perceptions of mental illness are formed in part by dramatic scenes and characters that the media portrays.
Movies like Split (about a kidnapper with dissociative identity disorder), and shows like HBO’s Euphoria (highlighting the life of a 17-year-old girl with mental illness) and NBC’s This is Us (examining the mental health of male characters), have been the focus of discussion about how Hollywood shapes ideas of mental health in audiences.
Michelle Strain, a counselor at Norman North High School, said these forms of media have major significance on the mental health of students at her school.
Strain said she experiences how mental health plays a role in the lives of others through “two sets of lenses,” both as a counselor and as a mom to two teenage boys. Because of this, Strain said she is not only concerned about the impact media has on mental health in general, but also how it is portrayed to youth.
“I think it’s a huge roll of the dice when you start portraying mental health issues and your audience is a very vulnerable group,” Strain said. “It’s so dangerous because it can ruin a young person whose frame of reference is smaller and who doesn’t see a solution or exit.”
Although a variety of shows and media portray mental health and illness in different lights, one in particular has caught the attention and reaction of Strain and those around her in Norman: 13 Reasons Why.
13 Reasons Why, one of the most-viewed Netflix shows of 2018, tells the story of a girl who leaves behind audio tapes for family and friends following her suicide, covering topics on mental health and illness in its episodes.
This specific series has correlated to an increase in suicide at Norman North High School following its release, Strain said. She and her staff immediately started noticing “copycat” situations of actions shown in the series, posing danger for the well-being and mental health of those at the school.
13 Reasons Why is approaching its third season on Netflix this summer, creating concern for Strain about where the future of a series like this one is headed.
“It scares me for my kids, it scares me for the students I counsel, and it scares me for the youth in general,” Strain said. “We have to be very careful not to glamorize suicide and mental illness.”
In fact, a tweet from Netflix on July 16 states that medical experts advised the show’s creators to edit a controversial scene in which the main character Hannah takes her life. Due to the fatal effects that it has had on viewers, the producers have edited that particular scene and are making further changes to how their show handles suicide and mental illness going forward.
Many media companies similar to those that produce shows such as 13 Reasons Why often incorporate mental health through negative stereotypes, “dangerous” characters and portrayals that serve to distance the mentally-ill from “the rest of us,” according to research by professor of psychology at UC Berkeley Stephen Hinshaw.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, these methods of showcasing mental illness can also lead people to believe their mental illness is “just a part of who they are” and not seek treatment.
Amy Kroska, a professor of the sociology department at OU and conductor of numerous studies on mental health, said people’s self-perceptions can be related to the way they view their own mental health.
“As a sociologist, I have seen how stigmas affect the attitudes around a person’s mental health many times,” Kroska said. “I certainly do believe the broad spectrum of media could be a factor in this.”
Strain said that the entertainment industry has moved forward in its portrayal of mental health issues, but she said it still has room to improve. “I think we’re advancing with the way mental health is portrayed in the media,” she said. “But how we view mental health issues should be no different than how we view physical health issues.”
