The glamorization of mental illness in media

By PEARL HENDERSON

Sheridan High School Student

Editor’s Note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.

Within television, books, movies, and even social media, we see mental illness everywhere. While it is good to have open discussions on how to avoid developing mental illness and the reality of living with a mental illness, the discourse has become almost jovial. When people who are mentally ill talk about their real-life struggles to feel like someone understands, those who don’t understand feel left out and sometimes lead to people faking a disorder to feel “special.”

Despite what many people think, living with a mental illness quite frankly sucks: It’s not special; it’s a battle in your mind that does not need to be glamorized.

Take, for example, the book turned to show Thirteen Reasons Why. For those unfamiliar with the Netflix show, it details the life of a girl named Hannah who died by suicide and then sent a tape to everyone detailing 13 reasons why she did it. Not only does Thirteen Reasons Why actually show the actions of Hannah choosing suicide, but it also takes every reason and displays it like a beautiful crown of burden resting upon the delicate mind of a fragile, justified teenager.

Reports indicate that teen suicide rates rose by 28.9 percent in the month following the release of Thirteen Reasons Why, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Hannah’s fictional story affected real lives because of how romanticized and glamorized it was. Some teenagers, if they are unstable, are easily influenced by the media around them, as displayed in this instance.

There are other examples of this phenomenon in the media, some of which are even worse.

Dear Evan Hansen’s effect on the musical world was tremendous and beautiful, but what about its effect on mental health? Dear Evan Hansen deals with many dark and sad topics, among those being anxiety and suicide.

In Evan Hansen, social anxiety is used as an excuse to allow Evan Hansen to get away with unacceptable behavior. Not only is it used as an excuse but also a quirk of sorts. Evan Hansen’s anxiety is like a microwaved potato, half-baked and used to pretend that something, or someone, is interesting when really, it’s just a potato. Having anxiety is a war in your brain that doesn’t stop, not a quirk to make you interesting. Dear Evan Hansen certainly had many positive effects, but its treatment of mental disorders is not one of them.

To conclude, mental health is a serious topic. Yes, we as a society need to acknowledge and have open discussions about mental health, but blatant displays of mental health as a quirk is not the way to go. Using mental illness as an attention-getter and an interesting topic is not the way to go.

This needs to stop before more real people are affected.