6 TV shows about mental illnesses

26/08/2021

For a while, mental illnesses were not put forward, but this subject is taking more and more space on screen. Shows don't hesitate to talk about it or put it at the center of the story. Let's zoom in on these six fictions addressing deeply these issues.

Euphoria
Euphoria

Created by Sam Levinson, Euphoria narates with aesthetic and finesse the chaotic day-to-day of Gen Z. Diving into the darkest aspects of life, these lonely highschoolers try to face the wave of problems drowning them. Amongst them, Rue, a broken young girl trying to overcome her drug addiction that she developed to run away from her mental health issues. Anxiety, OCD, bipolar, the character portrayed by Zendaya is eaten alive by various ills and struggles to heal them. A truly strong and touching picture of a broken heroine...

SKAM France
SKAM France

If each season of SKAM asks a question on a different issue, the third chapter of the french show goes deeper into bipolar disorders through Eliott's character, played by Maxence Danet-Fauvel. The series shows the different stages of the disease and highlights the euphoria but also the depression the young man goes through. Alongside Eliott's issues, the show focuses also on his friends and family and the complexity of the relationships that he has with them. The love story between Eliott and Lucas then takes a lot of bravery and tolerance from both of them but thrives intensely with a rare sensitivity.

Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy

Like many medical shows, Grey's Anatomy doesn't only focus on general medicine, but also talks about mental health issues. The showrunners don't use patients to address theses issues, but main characters, allowing us to follow the story along the seasons. Over the series, watchers could discover the depressive and suicidal sides of Meredith and Ellis Grey, but also dive into depression with Jo Wilson, or even explore PTSD with Owen Hunt. Many different issues are tackled on the long term, giving us a medical and human point of view on these illnesses.

This Way Up
This Way Up

From the creation to the acting in the show, the Irish Ainsling Bea explores depression in all of its forms in This Way Up. The show tells the story of Aine, a young woman on the path of rebuilding herself, looking to put her life back on track after going through a hard depression. With lots of realness and derision, this fiction tries mostly to shed a real light on this mental issue, but also demystify it with humour.

13 Reasons Why
13 Reasons Why

If the first season is about Hannah Baker and her suicide, 13 Reasons Why continues in other seasons to address various mental issues teenagers have. Anxiety, overworking, culpability, nightmares, hallucinations... Each characters has its own demons to battle with. Clay Jensen's mental health starts to worsen in the last seasons where he struggles to keep going. A way to put into perspective the hard and violent life some teenagers have, sometimes confronted to horrific situations everyday.

Mare of Easttown
Mare of Easttown

Played by Kate Winslet and written by Brad Ingelsby, Mare of Easttown goes beyond a simple crime show. The HBO program depicts the personal life of the detective, mourning her son's recent death. Struggling with deep mental disorders, he fell into drugs before taking away his own life. A very hard thing to overcome for the strong Mare Sheehan who still fights for those who are still here. A story about loss, denial, and the long process to accept the absence and the hurt that follows.

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