I’m sure many of you have watched, read or at least heard of this show, and if you haven’t, I highly recommend it! It tells the story of 16 year old Rae Earl and her struggles to deal with teenage life after leaving a psychiatric hospital.
Set in the 90’s when high waisted jeans and neon raves were common topics, mental illness was quite the opposite – the attitudes surrounding it were much more reserved and it was considered more of a taboo than it is today.
The show deals with homosexuality, eating disorders, self harm and low self-esteem among others, which I personally find is a good way of ‘normalising’ such issues and reducing the stigma attached to such labels. In our generation, where homosexuality is becoming more accepted every year, mental illness is still somewhat of an avoided subject and people often find it hard to deal with and talk about it upfront.
I feel like the show (and the book) help to give a personal insight into what its like to struggle with something so private, and it highlights how there is no particular ‘type’ of person who develops mental health issues – it can happen to anybody, and it isn’t always visible from the outside.
