HBO Adds Mental Health Advisories To 14 Shows, Including ‘Euphoria,’ ‘Girls’

Zendaya plays a recovering drug addict and high schooler in HBO’s “Euphoria.”

photo: Eddy Chen/HBO

Topline: Amid increased concern over entertainment’s psychological influence, HBO announced Thursday—on World Mental Health Day—it would add mental health advisories to run before many of its shows, old and new, and will release short videos analyzing characters’ issues like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

• The alerts are scheduled to start running Thursday. At least 14 of HBO’s shows will carry them, including hits Euphoria, The Sopranos, Barry and Girls.

• Euphoria, which stars Zendaya as a high-schooler and recovering drug addict, already had a dedicated mental health resource section on HBO’s website.

• Each advisory will tell viewers which mental health issues are depicted in the show they’re about to watch and will provide contact info for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
• The network emphasized that the advisories are intended to get viewers talking about mental illness, not to discourage them from watching.
• HBO is also creating short videos in which a psychologist discusses mental illnesses portrayed in its shows. The first features Girls and Hannah Horvath’s obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Key background: HBO isn’t the first network to include mental health warnings with its shows. The first season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why sparked controversy over its graphic depiction of suicide, prompting the streamer to add warnings before episodes. In July, Netflix cut the suicide scene under the advice of medical experts. Mental health professionals, along with teachers and parents, had previously raised concerns that watching the show could trigger young people into committing self-harm, known as a “contagion effect.” A study supported by the National Institutes of Health found that 13 Reasons Why was associated with a nearly 30% rise in suicide rates among young people ages 10 to 17 in the month following the show’s release.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2019/10/10/hbo-adds-mental-health-advisories-before-14-shows-including-euphoria-girls/#6f87127c6b04