For a long time, mental health was a taboo subject, because although it sounds strange, society did not want to face this problem because it meant presenting yourself to the world with “difficulties”. As a consequence, the fact of not naming these conditions simply forced their carriers to bury them and pretend that everything was fine.
However, over the years, there has been a struggle to give visibility to mental health, which has resulted in a better understanding and portrayal of various disorders. That is why currently the cinema has stopped romanticizing, minimizing and even ridiculing this important issue, giving us worthy and wise representations, such as those of the following series.
1. atypical
Although Sam, the protagonist of the series, has an autism spectrum disorder, which is a disease of the nervous system and not a mental one, among the symptoms of this is obsessive-compulsive disorder, which leads him to obsess with images and forms to do things.
In addition, in this series we observe different pathologies seen on a daily basis, which allows us to clearly understand the disorder of Sam and other characters. The truth is that it is a story with a worthy representation of various mental health problems.
two. bojack horseman
In this animated series we follow BoJack, an anthropomorphic horse, who was very famous in the nineties, but over the years has ceased to be relevant and constantly struggles to be taken into account again.
The decline of his fame and traumatic experiences of his childhood lead him to have to deal with strong addictions and a growing depression, which in addition to affecting him, impacts those around him in a very raw way.
3. euphoria
This story is inspired by the life of the creator of the series, Sam Levinson, who wanted to represent in a concrete and real way the experiences of adolescence, which are not always perfect, as was shown on screen for a long time.
The result was this masterful work, which shows us the most grotesque and realistic face of addictions, depression and anxiety, from an age that many idealize as wonderful.
Four. after-life
One of the most common ideas about depression is that those who suffer from it cannot feel any emotion other than sadness. This stereotype has been very harmful, because not knowing what the disorder looks like realistically, we cannot recognize the signs to help.
after-life does an amazing job of providing an accurate depiction of depression. In it, we follow Tony, a man dealing with the death of his wife and showing his pain in a lot of color, not just through deep blue.
5. Big Mouth
A lot of times emotions can seem confusing and it’s harder when you’re a teenager, because you’re meeting some of them for the first time, but because of Big Mouthmany people have been able to understand concepts such as depression and anxiety in a simple way and with touches of humor.
For a long time stereotypes were created about adolescence, in which youth had to adapt, series like Big Mouth they vindicate these ideas and give it the diversity that was sorely lacking.
6. Mr Robot
This series introduces us to Elliot Alderson, a programmer and hacker who lives with social anxiety, so he prefers to hack people instead of interacting with them. Also, his demanding job causes him to develop dissociative identity disorder.
It is not a coincidence that the protagonist suffers from these conditions, since the creator of the series, Sam Esmail, suffers from social anxiety, which led him to portray many of his experiences in the story.
7. spinning out
The series focuses on Kat Baker, a young skater who, after suffering a serious fall, sees her future ruined. However, she is offered the chance to continue skating alongside the talented Justin Daves, but this union forces her to struggle to hide the bipolar disorder she inherited from her mother.
It is worth mentioning that the protagonist does a phenomenal job representing this condition. In addition, the story allows us to see how the people around you and your professional environment are affected.
8. manic
The plot follows Annie and Owen, who meet while participating in a pharmaceutical trial in which they are promised to cure any mental problems they have. Little by little, we are discovering the disorders that led them to present themselves to the strange experiment.
The story of Annie, who has self-destructive tendencies, and Owen, who has just suffered a psychotic break, gets us thinking about how mental illnesses are cared for and helps us understand the constant struggle of living with them.
9. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
A subject that is rarely addressed on screen is that of the victims of traumatic events, since the perpetrators of the acts are commonly given visibility. This is why series like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt they are so important.
We follow the story of Kimmy Schmidt, who spent the last 15 years of her life in a religious sect and who, after her rescue, tries to live a normal life. Although it sounds somewhat dark, the series makes use of black comedy to lighten the scenes in which Kimmy deals with his post-traumatic stress.
10. lady dynamite
This series is inspired by the life of actress Maria Bamford, who is struggling to rebuild her career from scratch after spending six months in recovery from bipolar disorder.
In addition, the plus of lady dynamite is that the protagonist is María Bamford herself, so the representation of her suffering is told first-hand, through her own experiences.
Source: Okchicas
I’m Ava Paul, an experienced news website author with a special focus on the entertainment section. Over the past five years, I have worked in various positions of media and communication at World Stock Market. My experience has given me extensive knowledge in writing, editing, researching and reporting on stories related to the entertainment industry.
