Why shows should have a trigger warning when it comes to mental health

Why shows should have a trigger warning when it comes to mental health

Shows have a warning for a lot of things, sex, drugs, language, but not for mental health issues. I recently started watching “spinning out” and honestly had to stop watching it because the main character and her mom are both bipolar and it was really triggering. It's a great show and really interesting but I just couldn't force myself to keep watching it because I was being so emotionally triggered. It wasn't a comfortable feeling and brought up a lot of emotions of what I am like when I'm having an episode.

For some reason there isn't a disclaimer on shows like that but there should be. Because I don't think that TV producers realize the mental toll it can cause on somebody who has one of the mental illnesses that is being described. I am lucky enough to recognize it early and turn it to a different show because I'm fairly self aware of my emotions but I just think about people who have it worse off than I do and the ramifications that it can have on a person. What if it triggered them into having an episode one way or the other? People don't seem to stop and realize the ramifications that it can have on the general public. And it may be because it isn't something that's something that's really discussed in normal society but it's still something that can affect a person's mental state. And that matters.

Sadly i don't think that anything will change when it comes to this in the near future. However before watching either the Joker or Spinning Out you may want to consider possibly avoiding them OR go into watching them with full knowledge that they could be triggering if you struggle with mental illness. Now i'm not saying to avoid them completely because I do believe that they are actually really good movies/shows but just go into them knowing that if you're not careful they may hit a little too close to home.

Why this isn’t something that is more common i dont know. I feel like people don’t think about how something can affect somebody else until it happens to them. For example, there was a strobe light type of filter on the popular tik tok app and it took a LAWSUIT for them to add a seizure warning to it. I know that people have the tendency to just overlook things if they don’t apply to you but the question I would ask to that is why... why are we so wrapped up in our own universe that we can’t take a second to think about how our actions (or lack thereof) affect somebody else.

Hopefully this lawsuit and changing of things will cause some sort of caution and awareness moving forward. Filters now have warnings as they should but I still stand by the TV ratings needing a trigger warning for people with mental health. At the very least put it in the description when showing the description before you start the show on streaming services such as Netflix. That would be a simple addition, just a few simple words, but if it can stop somebody from being triggered and having an episode then it’s worth it. Oh so worth it. Just food for thought and something that I hope changes in the future as we progress as a society. Mental health is still super taboo to talk about and it really shouldn’t be. It’s time to adapt and help others mental health.