9 Reasons Why "13 Reasons Why" Does More Harm Than Good

I never thought I'd be saying this, but 13 Reasons Why isn't merely returning for a second season; it will be upon us in about two weeks. 

Before watching season 1, I was already hearing mixed reviews. It sounded like a polarizing series, and to be honest, this is the main thing that initially attracted me to it. A polarizing series or film, at minimum, is almost guaranteed to be interesting, regardless of which side of the controversy you reflexively endorse. In addition, I was also attracted to the subjects and themes of the series (at least the ones I was able to discern from trailers and online buzz about it), including youth development and identity formation; mental health; family dynamics; systemic/community-level/social issues; substance abuse; and suicide. 

I watched it carefully, even rewatching (and then rewatching) key scenes to ensure that I understood what was going on. I've thought about it quite a bit, especially whilst wearing my professional hats of clinician and professor in the fields of addictions, mental health, and social work. I really tried to like it overall, or at least appreciate its effort to tackle the incredibly tough task of telling a compelling story embedded within so many complex phenomena. I tried to see the good, on balance, of what I initially (and still) view to be a staggeringly stupid, irresponsible, and harmful depiction of mental illness, trauma, adolescence, and suicide. But no matter how I hard I tried, the best I can say about 13 Reasons Why is that it does, on balance, far more harm than good. 

So, to commemorate the imminent release of its second season, I wanted to take a moment to briefly summarize some of the reasons I think that 13 Reasons Why does far more harm than good—well, 9 reasons, to be exact. 

WARNING: While I don't spend any time laying out plot details (except insofar as they're relevant to any of the Reasons I discuss), there are spoilers ahead. I recommend watching the series before reading what follows. Yep, you heard that right: I actually recommend watching the series, even though my judgment of it is almost entirely negative. In fact, while it's perfectly possible to read and understand almost everything in this article without having actually watched the series, quite a bit of what I say here will only make sense to you if you've watched it. Alternatively, you can read this first and then watch the series to determine whether my Reasons are fair and warranted. My only recommendation is that you don't watch it with your kids, teens, and/or anyone who has history with suicidality/self-harming behaviours. 

Reason #1

It feeds into the myths that suicide is (1) the result of a single (or at least primary) cause, e.g. bullying, and (2) something for which someone must be blamed. In other words, it repeatedly and self-consciously perpetuates the inaccurate and harmful idea that there is a straight, linear path to the occurrence of a suicide. Suicide is an enormously complex issue and it can’t be explained by placing the onus on someone else—or even 13 someone elses. Sometimes, suicide has no reason other than intense depression or severe personal crisis. In fact, mental illness itself is a far better predictor of suicide than experiences of bullying and assault.

Reason #2

Contrary to the claims of the series’ producers, it doesn’t show “that there is nothing, in any way, worthwhile about suicide” (Beyond the 13 Reasons, 2017)—in fact, it presents suicide as an effective and impactful means of (1) getting revenge on those who have wronged you, (2) achieving a kind of posthumous ‘justice’ (without facing the consequences), and (3) powerfully raising awareness about youth suicide.

Reason #3

It presents a litany of examples of what not to do, with very few (if any) good examples of compassionate, helpful, evidence-based responses to youth depression, bullying, suicidal ideation, self-harming behaviours, post-traumatic stress, and other distressing experiences. Instead, it presents an oversimplified, egregiously stigmatizing depiction of mental illness and our response to it. I don't think it's unfair to say that the best thing you could say about 13 Reasons Why is that it provides a near-perfect example of how not to responsibly and construct an evidence-based, emotionally mature fictional story around suicide, youth issues, and mental health. (I expand on this point in Reason #6 and Reason #7 below.)

Reason #4 

Building upon Reason #3, rather than inspire hope and foster empowerment, it engenders a paralyzing sense of fear and powerlessness—I can easily see someone walking away from this show thinking, if this is how it is, there’s nothing we can do. This is especially concerning for parents, school staff (i.e. faculty, guidance counsellors, administrative and support staff), and other adults working with children.

Reason #5

There’s no meaningful exploration of mental health or mental illness, let alone its relationship to suicide—which is telling, since 90% of youth who commit suicide have a psychiatric disorder (National Institute of Mental Health Factsheet, 2016)—in fact, the terms “mental health”, “mental illness”, “depression”, “anxiety”, etc. aren’t even mentioned by any character in the series.

Reason #6

It flagrantly violates just about every evidence-based guideline on the safe, responsible discussion and presentation of suicide, based on research conducted by many organizations, such as The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (to mention just one among many convergent sources).

The research conducted by AFSP was initially conducted in the context of journalistic reporting on real-world suicides, and contained guidelines such as: don’t describe, much less show, the method of suicide; don’t share the contents of any suicide note, if any was left; don’t explore/speculate on the subjective and psychosocial ‘reasons’ for the suicide; etc. 

But the guidelines extend with even greater force in the case of fictional portrayals of suicide because fiction allows for more exploration of the subjective reasons and motivations underpinning the decision to attempt and/or complete a suicide; it also creates a space for deeper empathetic identification with the individual considering suicide, given the immense potential for psychological depth and breadth in exploring a character's inner subjective life. Fiction allows for an in-depth, all-access ‘look’ into the mind of the individual considering suicide. Depending on the depiction of the fictional mind in question, it's not hard to imagine many readers—especially young, impressionable, emotionally vulnerable readers—being persuaded by the characters reasons for suicide. This is why anyone who broaches the subject of suicide in fiction has an even greater responsibility than the rest of us. In my view, the people behind 13 Reasons Why either profoundly misunderstood their responsibility or abnegated it entirely. (Maybe a bit from Column A and a bit from Column B?)

Reason #7

It presents an unrealistic representation of the psychology of adolescence. Prior to watching this series, I wasn't aware of the notion that 16-year-olds could regularly debate the finer points of surrealist art and post-industrial-existential angst whilst sipping on double espressos and casually using expressions like “surreptitiously elide”). But more seriously, it presents a staggeringly unrealistic representation of the psychology of suicide. In particular, it overtly suggests that suicide tends to be the result of careful planning and deliberation. But someone in Hannah’s condition—someone who had genuinely reached a state of complex and utter hopelessness—would have had the motivation and determination necessary to create and carry out an elaborate consciousness-raising revenge scheme by meticulously tracing the genesis of her suffering, recording tapes about all of the ways she’s been wronged by others. Even less believable is the idea that she would do so, as Dr. John Ackerman says, “…while maintaining a sarcastic, witty, and glib tone towards people she blames for her decision to end her life.” 

Reason #8

The suicide scene in the final episode of Season 1 comes disturbingly close to a How-To Guide for Completing Suicide. In fact, it’s far worse than that: it shows the viewer not only how to inflict maximal damage for the purpose of completing a suicide (e.g. showing where, and how, to cut into one's wrists), but also how to create the perfect conditions (e.g. misdirection, secrecy, suppressing emotions, etc.) that will allow for the suicide to occur in private without interruption. This is especially scary and irresponsible given that the series is overtly marketed to youth, many of whom might be living a reality similar to Hannah’s.

Reason #9

It also feeds into the myth that those who choose to die by suicide are merely selfish, attention-seeking, and vindictive—in particular, that they’re using their death at least primarily as a means of harming others. This is an inexcusable form of stigmatization that only serves to reinforce pre-existing negative societal attitudes towards people struggling with thoughts of suicide.

This is also the ugly irony of Hannah’s story: the series strongly pushes the idea that the main cause of her decision to die by suicide was her experience of bullying. But in the end, she becomes the ultimate bully: the tapes that she produced, and especially the threats associated with non-compliance in the ‘listening/passing on’ process, became in themselves a form of bullying. And it’s a form of bullying for which she can never be held accountable. Hannah—and not the people being unjustifiably blamed for having caused her to complete her suicide—is arguably the villain of this tale. As I've already explained above, this stigmatizes rather than increases compassion and sympathy for suffering of the person considering and/or completing a suicide. And this is what made the series irredeemably bad: in a story about the decision to complete suicide, if anyone should be seen as blameworthy (much less a moral monster)—as I argued above, technically, no one should blamed—the last person we should be blaming is the person making the decision to complete the suicide. But this is precisely the depiction that we're left with after watching 13 Reasons Why.  

                                                                         © Carl Legault