John Peterson

I found this series to be very well done and I would highly recommend it for anyone, especially those who are struggling with mental health issues or if you know someone who is. If you are someone who has struggled (as I have with depression and anxiety) you’ll often hear the phrase, “You are not alone” and the statistics certainly bear that out. Hearing these brave individuals (real people, not statistics), share their own stories with remarkable openness and vulnerability, had a very meaningful impact on me. Most of the people featured said something, almost verbatim, that I have thought or said myself. I was watching people who I don’t know, on my TV, and yet I felt a personal connection to each of them. It puts real meaning behind that phrase, “You are not alone”. That’s very powerful, in and of itself. The main purpose of this docuseries is to raise awareness about mental health issues. Social stigma and discrimination can make mental health problems worse and stop a person from getting the help they need. It leads to feelings of shame, hopelessness, isolation, and self doubt (I shouldn’t feel this way). Telling someone else “You have no right to feel this way” is precisely what drives the stigma around seeking help let alone talking openly and honestly to anyone about the very real pain that person is experiencing. The negative reviews to this series primarily fit into a couple of categories: One - Animosity toward Harry and Oprah (“Rich people whining”) and Two – Questioning the efficacy of therapy and other forms of treatment (“All of these people crying on camera while talking about their problems. Clearly therapy hasn’t worked.”). As to the first category, “rich people whining”, I would say watch the whole series. It’s a very diverse group of people who are featured, including a 9 year old Syrian refugee. I would also suggest that if you’re incapable of feeling any empathy for a man whose mother was murdered when he was twelve years old or for a woman who was repeatedly raped and beaten when she was a child, you may want to take that up with your therapist. If I decide that anyone who makes more money than me no longer has the right to struggle with mental health issues or to feel the full range of human emotion, I also have to assume someone has drawn that line below me as well. It makes no sense. As to the second category, “therapy isn’t working”, I would point out, from personal experience, that therapy is a process and progress (healing) isn’t always linear. It’s not like a one-and-done trip to the dentist to get a cavity filled. The people who are featured in the series are a work-in-progress and, admirably, are healthy enough, resilient enough, to agree to share their stories very publicly because they feel like they might be able to help someone else. That’s very courageous. To sum up, this series very compassionately makes the case that you are not alone, that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, that connecting with someone, even if it’s just one person, can be a powerful, positive force, and that reframing the self-defeating question, “What’s wrong with me?” as, “What happened to me?” is a very important part of self care.