8 TV Shows That Help Navigate Mental Health
January is famous for being a difficult time for many, with days like Blue Monday dedicated to raising awareness about keeping our minds healthy. Continuing on that theme, we’ve put together a list of the best shows that explore mental health. Here are seven shows to watch:
Shrinking
A show all about psychiatrists, Shrinking stars Jason Segel as a depressed therapist, Jimmy Laird, grieving after the death of his late wife. In an effort to break out of his stupor and feel like he has nothing to lose, he begins to give out unfiltered advice to his patients that he feels they really need to hear- even if it breaks ethical codes. As his co-star is Harrison Ford, who plays the curmudgeonly Paul Rhoades, another therapist who’s dealing with his own issues, and gives advice to Jimmy. Jessica Williams also stars as Gaby, Jimmy’s colleague who, alongside Paul, tries to keep Jimmy grounded and connected to his daughter, who he has a tricky relationship with.
The Bear
One of TV’s most acclaimed and popular shows at the moment, The Bear is set in the world of restaurant cooking and is worth watching in part for its depiction of mental health. Jeremy Allen White plays a chef, Carmy, who goes back to his old hometown in Chicago, stepping in to run his late brother’s sandwich kitchen. Across three seasons, Carmy builds up relationships with the cooks and members of his team, including Syd (Ayo Edebiri) and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), as his dream of turning The Bear restaurant into a hit is tested. It’s certainly intense with the stresses of the cooking and emotional at points, but it delves into Carmy’s mindset as the pressures of life and his self-blame ratchet up.
Sex Education
Sex Education concluded with its final season in 2023, and is another great show for tackling mental health topics. If you haven’t seen it, it follows the lives of a group of teens in the town of Moordale, and their various dilemmas and experiences. Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Emma Mackey and Ncuti Gatwa star, with Butterfield playing Otis, a student who decides to open up a sex therapy clinic encouraged by his mother’s job as a sex therapist. Storylines that deal with mental health include Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood), who experiences trauma after being sexually assaulted on a bus, and Jackson, a swimmer who feels pressured to have a successful athletic career and has serious anxiety issues and panic attacks.
Ted Lasso
Another series which ended recently but is well worth watching if you’ve not dived into the world of AFC Richmond. Out of nowhere, American football coach Ted Lasso is chosen to become the coach of a (fictional) English Premier League team, in a deliberate move by Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) to sabotage its fortunes. Initially, the perpetually upbeat Ted is a fish out of water who seems like a sure-fire failure- but his persistently charming persona and positive mentality begin to get the team results. Across the show’s three seasons, Ted is revealed to experience panic attacks that make his life difficult, and we follow him as he tries to deal with them and his past traumas.
Normal People
Another hugely popular and acclaimed show, Normal People became a phenomenon during Covid as a bingeworthy series, but has remained relevant since. It’s turned its lead stars Daisy Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal into Hollywood leads, appearing in Twisters and Gladiator II recently, but the Sally Rooney drama is what they’re still most associated with. It centres upon Connell (Mescal) and Marianne (Edgar Jones) and their developing relationship across the years and progression through their final days of education. The acting and chemistry of the lead pair made the show a hit, as does the way it deals with mental health troubles. Marianne deals with bullying and a difficult home life, affecting how she develops friendships and relationships with others, while Connell has both anxiety and depression.
I Know This Much Is True
Mark Ruffalo stars in this miniseries from HBO, which focuses on two identical brothers, both played by Ruffalo, and their parallel lives. One of the brothers, Thomas, struggles with paranoid schizophrenia, meaning he has been admitted to psychiatric hospitals several times over two decades. The other brother, Dominick, continues to help him out of love and his family bond, and the experience takes a toll on both of them. Dominick knows that he has to remain vigilant about his brother’s condition and able to help him despite the stress it causes, and things are made more difficult by the fact that those around them and who care for Thomas do not seem to always care about his best interests.
Atypical
This Netflix comedy-drama follows Sam (Keir Gilchrist), who’s in his late teens and has autism. He’s recently become set on starting dating finding a girlfriend and becoming more independent. His family, though, wants the best for him and somewhat surprised at his sudden turn, unsure what to make of it. His mother (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is swept along with his change in outlook and starts making changes to her own life, and their whole family will adjust in different ways. The show also tackles other themes during its four-season run, like grief and accepting oneself, and several actors and writers who have autism joined the team to add authenticity.
Heartstopper
Heartstopper, a series about the blossoming relationship between two boys during their school years, has become highly popular for its portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community and for its lead characters. Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) along with their friends Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney) navigate the highs and lows of being teenagers, including the mental health issues many experience but aren’t always addressed properly. In the course of the series, Charlie confides in Nick that he has struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anorexia, with him attempting to get help to address it while balancing his school life and exams. The show’s portrayal of this issue in an honest and open way, like the rest of its themes, is part of why it’s become so popular.
