13 Reasons Why has become a force for mental health and suicide awareness. The Netflix original has helped raise awareness about warning signs to look out for.
Selena Gomez is the executive producer of the show that is based on the best-selling book with the same name by Jay Asher. It’s about Hannah, a 17-year-old girl who leaves behind 13 tape recordings that vividly explain why she took her own life. Each tape is dedicated to one of her acquaintances, who caused her pain.
“As a society, we tend to shy away from these hard topics and sometimes in cinema we do that too, I think this is great because it says, ‘no, this is a problem and it needs to be addressed.’” said Justin Prentice, who stars on the show.
In 2014 suicide was the second leading cause of death in people aged 10-24, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over 5,000 American teens attempt suicide every day. Social media has an impact towards suicide and sexual assault. Health classes in secondary school need to focus on this. They should take advise from the show and put up posters with free counselling services and helpline information.
Gomez has openly spoken about her own mental-health struggles. She revealed she received treatment at a rehab facility last year for “anxiety, panic attacks and depression”. The former Disney star and two series cast members got matching semicolon tattoos, meaning “for an end of one thought and a beginning of another.”
13 Reasons Why deals with many serious topics, including bullying, sexual assault, depression, drink driving and suicide. In the book, Hannah dies after overdosing on pills. But in the Netflix adaptation, she ghoulishly dies after cutting her wrists. The sickening scene sent viewers a life-saving message that suicide is never a glamorous choice.
“We worked very hard not to be gratuitous, but we did want it to be painful to watch” Executive Producer Brian Yorkey said. “We wanted to be very clear that there is nothing worthwhile about suicide.”
There were 3,585,110 tweets about the show during its first week on Netflix, based on mentions of the show’s title. Netflix released a documentary called “Beyond the reasons” discussing suicide and mental health. It explains how people can find support if they are thinking of harming themselves.
If you need help battling anything you are dealing with contact: The Samaritans at Free phone: 116 123 or Text: 087 260 9090. Aware (Depression, Bi-Polar Disorder & Anxiety) at Tel: 1800 80 48 48. Or visit www.samaritans.ie or www.aware.ie.
SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) offers a free handbook for people who have attempted suicide. Read it here: http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA15-4419/SMA15-4419.pdf