17 shows that positively discuss mental health

This Is Us

This Is Us doesn’t just heartlessly make us cry. There are good reasons to cry, too. Even when we’re sobbing through the latest episode, the series gives us a lot of mental health commentary, particularly with men’s mental health.

Men’s mental health is particularly stigmatized in pop culture and real-life, as Healthline notes. That’s why the depiction of men’s anxiety and panic attacks in This Is Us is so important.

During the first reason, the show illustrates how Randall’s panic attack transitions from his shaking hands to his temporary loss of visual and mental concentration. Beyond the physical and psychosomatic symptoms, the series shows how easily panic attacks can deter someone’s plans.

In Randall’s case, he didn’t go to his brother’s debut on Broadway. Beyond just showing that it obviously isn’t Randall’s fault that he couldn’t make it to his brother’s show, This Is Us shows his brother, Justin, literally running to support him.

Defusing a panic attack is never easy, but the series uses his brother to show that support systems can help you cope through a panic attack and manage the overarching anxiety. His family acts as a grounding mechanism, which helps him gradually recover from the anxiety attack.