Depression Isn't Really Pretty
With the recent release of Thirteen Reasons Why season 2 and the end of mental health awareness week, the subject of depression, among other things, has unsurprisingly been occupying my mind. What got me wanting to write about it was a conversation I had recently with a friend of mine, triggered by the subject of 13 Reasons Why, and how it portrays suicide and mental health issues. We both agreed that turning suicide into a revenge complex, as the show does, is neither a reasonable, realistic, or healthy way to portray the issue. As someone who has struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts, I can tell you that suggesting killing oneself is a good way of getting back at the people who hurt you is not at all helpful. It's the opposite. This turns suicide into a trivial game of blaming others, and there has even been concerns that a suicide numbers among teens will increase due to the amount of people who identify with Hannah's situation and will see death as a viable way of making people care about them.