I want to preface all of this by saying that what I’m going to talk about worked for me. The nature of my mental illness or trauma is unique to me, so what helps it will probably be unique to an extent as well.
It isn’t like Netflix or Prime Video have some strange healing powers that helped get me out of a funk, but rather these platforms offered something that often goes lacking in times of mental stress; comfort. We’ve spoken earlier about how these kinds of issues are not only exceptionally difficult to deal with, but it creates a headspace that isolates you from everyone else. In situations like these, our minds are our worst enemy; it wants to bring you down and keep you there.
About 5 years ago, I had my first extended depressive spiral. It lasted about 6 months, but this was before I was diagnosed, so I didn’t really know what was going on. No medication, no Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, nothing. Just me and my depression; it wasn’t a great time. It was also around the same time I started watching Parks & Rec for the first time. I’ve been an avid movie and TV show collector for years, so this was just up next on my long list of things to watch. Anyone who has watched Parks and Rec knows that it’s an exceptionally hopeful, heart-warming and hilarious show. I blew through all of its episodes in a few days. While I was watching the show, the pain in my mind and the dullness of my being took a back seat to what was going on in the screen in front of me. In the moment, it made me feel better than I had in a long time.
Over the next few weeks, I re-watched the show more times than I could count. It played in the background every moment I was awake; I didn’t even pause it when I dozed off after lunch. After a little while, I pretty much committed dialogues to memory, it was like the show was a part of me. At a time when everything in my life was in a state of flux, that one show was a beacon of stability, something I could always rely on to at least push my problems to the recesses of my mind. Knowing how the stories went, how character arcs played out was just so comforting. I think that’s why even today, we would rather watch The Office for the 10th time around because it’s just, so comfortable. This choice is a lot like the path less taken; if you reach a fork in the road, you’re far more likely to tread the path that has been travelled more often. This becomes especially true in times of mental stress or trauma, when the entire world feels like unfamiliar and dangerous.
The rise of platforms like Netflix and Prime Video has made it easier than ever to watch these shows. Shows like Seinfeld, Parks & Rec and pretty much anything created by Michael Schur are just a couple of clicks away. Regardless of whether you’re dealing with a mental illness or not, sometimes there are just days when you don’t really want to get out of bed. It’s times like those when the mind seeks what it knows, for me it’s Parks & Rec, it could be anything else for you.
I think those needs speak to a larger commonality between the mind dealing with an illness and a healthy one. Both minds yearn for comfort, to exist in the embrace of what’s known. Maybe that’s why so much anti-mental illness rhetoric exists even today, because those who haven’t experienced it, simply don’t understand, and a misunderstanding of the unknown only serves to breed fear and ignorance. Once those things take hold, it requires a herculean effort to shake. But that’s a blog for another time. I have Parks & Rec ready to go for my next stay-in-bed day, what about you?
Let us know what are some of the unlikely mental health tools you’ve developed over the years. What are some of your favourite pick-me-up shows? Drop a comment below!