Pop Culture and Mental Health

Pop culture has a really complex relationship with mental health.

On one hand, most media kind of sucks at portraying anything that isn’t neurotypical. On the other hand, most people I know who struggle with mental health tend to use pop culture as an important anchor to keep themselves going or give themselves something to look forward to.

It’s this really fascinating thing--we’re not overtly represented in the media we consume, but we project various aspects of ourselves onto our favorite characters and stories. This is why there’s so much fanfic where canonically cishet characters become queer, or characters have autism or anxiety that isn’t necessarily in the source.

Honestly, I think that’s one of the things that’s beautiful about fan works: we have the ability to create our own representation, and make sure it’s what we want to see.

Just being able to create or consume media that accurately portrays things like mental health issues can be incredibly healing. Representation matters.

But even media that doesn’t have representation can be important in mental health. When I was at my lowest a few years ago, I latched onto a video game and it literally became my lifeline. Making it through the day to go home and play was the only reason I kept going. It got me through that time and, in a roundabout way that involved some Pop Culture Paganism shenanigans, was the thing that finally pushed me to get the help I needed.

Pop culture strikes at the very core of us in ways we can’t expect. It can go way beyond just escapism. And sometimes that means books, TV shows, video games, music, whatever, are way more important to someone than you could ever guess.

So don’t be ashamed if you cling to your favorite show to get you through the day. Do what you’ve got to do to make sure you’re healthy and taking care of yourself mentally and physically--even if people might be confused about why you love something so much.

Is there a piece of media that’s helped you with your mental health? Share it in the comments!

- Nonir