Hunter Kozak Breaks Down Why '13 Reasons Why' Gets Mental Illness and Suicide Dangerously Wrong
Enjoying this? Share it with someone who needs to see it.
Up Next
The Disturbing Pattern Behind Three Political Attacks and What It Means for American Policy
14:06
A Whole New Meaning To
0:31
Brian Ference Investigates Why Tyler Bowyer Cancelled Charlie Kirk's Final Audit Directive at TPUSA
15:15
Hunter Kozak Breaks Down Why '13 Reasons Why' Gets Mental Illness and Suicide Dangerously Wrong
Hunter Kozak delivers an extensive analysis of Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, examining how the show misrepresents mental illness, depression, and suicide. Despite praising the acting and cinematography, Kozak argues that the series conflates sadness with depression, portrays therapy and medication irresponsibly, and dangerously suggests suicide can be an act of revenge. He dissects how Hannah Baker exhibits vengeful behavior rather than genuine depression, how Clay's hallucinations go untreated as actual schizophrenia symptoms, and how season two fails to correct these fundamental misunderstandings. Kozak concludes by offering alternative films and shows that portray mental health more accurately and responsibly.
June 26, 2018
A Critical Look at 13 Reasons Why
Hunter Kozak tackles Netflix's controversial series 13 Reasons Why with a detailed critique focusing on its portrayal of mental illness and suicide. The show follows Hannah Baker, who takes her own life and leaves 13 tapes for her 13 bullies, including protagonist Clay Jensen. While the series garnered criticism for being only superficially realistic, Kozak acknowledges that high school experiences vary widely and avoids dismissing the show's realism outright.
Before diving into his main arguments, Kozak acknowledges both strengths and weaknesses. He questions odd character choices, like why every jock plays baseball, basketball, and football, or why the character who loves the 80s happens to be gay. However, he praises the show's acting, directing, cinematography, and music, singling out Catherine Lankford's American accent as particularly impressive. He also appreciates a subtle comment in season two about how the justice system disenfranchises poor people.
The Fundamental Misunderstanding of Depression
Kozak's central argument is that Hannah Baker does not have depression—she simply has a sad life. He explains the crucial difference: sadness is an evolutionary response to negative stimuli that helps us avoid future harm, while depression is feeling sad for no reason or perceiving almost all stimuli as negative. Hannah cries frequently, but always in response to specific instances of bullying or harassment, not as a symptom of clinical depression.
Alex's observation in the show supports this distinction: someone with depression will still have depression regardless of who their friends are. Hannah's emotional responses are situational and reactive, making her fundamentally different from someone experiencing clinical depression.
How the Show Fails Mental Health Treatment
Kozak identifies three ways people with mental illness can be helped and examines how the show handles each: medication, therapy, and self-determination. The show's treatment of medication is particularly problematic. When Clay's mother becomes concerned about his behavior following Hannah's death, she visits his old psychiatrist and immediately receives a prescription—without any consultation with Clay himself.
A responsible doctor would have explained that grief is normal, recommended psychologists who specialize in grief counseling, and ensured Clay knew he could reach out for help. Instead, the show portrays medication as something to "get you through" difficult times, rather than treatment for actual neurological issues. Medication shouldn't be used to numb the pain of grief; it's for addressing genuine chemical imbalances.
Therapy receives even less attention than medication. Mr. Porter, the school counselor, fills a therapist-like role but is not properly trained and shouldn't be considered representative of actual therapists. The show deliberately shows that Hannah's last action before dying was seeking help from Mr. Porter, who didn't give her the answer she wanted. The implication—that if therapy doesn't work immediately, there's no hope—is dangerously misleading.
In reality, opening up to a therapist takes time and trust. First sessions rarely go perfectly, and that's normal. The show suggests that if initial help doesn't work, suicide is the logical next step, which is profoundly harmful messaging.
Hannah's Lack of Self-Awareness
Despite having friends throughout the series, Hannah consistently demonstrates poor self-awareness. She belittles people trying to help her, assumes the worst in others, and exhibits the very behaviors she condemns on her tapes. She tells people they need to be kind and assume the best in others while doing the opposite herself.
In one tape, Hannah accuses Zach of contributing to her death because he crumpled a love note she wrote him—yet she also says he said something stupid, she yelled, and he should have just let it go. Perhaps most troublingly, Hannah outs her classmate Courtney when Courtney is clearly ashamed of her sexuality and doesn't want to be open about it.
Season Two's Missed Opportunities
Kozak hoped season two would address criticisms from the first season, and in some ways it does. Alex goes through physical therapy after his suicide attempt, showing the difficulty of recovery. Jessica attends group therapy with positive results. Skye talks positively about medication and tells Clay he can't fix her—that these problems require professional help.
However, season two introduces new problems. Instead of Hannah appearing visually to Clay, she becomes an auditory hallucination—essentially upgrading his condition from psychosis to full schizophrenia. Clay receives no professional help, and the hallucinations simply disappear once he learns to forgive Hannah, which is not how mental disorders work.
The season also tackles school shootings but sensationalizes gun violence by portraying the shooter as an anarchist who gets into punk rock and loses his friends—using myths about school shooters that have been thoroughly debunked. The resolution shows Clay approaching the shooter, taking his gun, and helping him drive off before police arrive, rather than depicting the actual recommended response of calling police and locking doors.
The Problem with Clay's Untreated Schizophrenia
While seeing deceased loved ones is a common trope in television (like Rick seeing Lori in The Walking Dead), 13 Reasons Why advertises itself as hyper-realistic about mental illness. Clay's hallucinations aren't just visions—Hannah's ghost tells him to murder someone. This represents a serious mental disorder requiring immediate hospitalization and treatment, yet the show does nothing to acknowledge it.
Retconning and Revenge
Season two attempts to retcon the first season's portrayal of Hannah, suggesting she wasn't being vengeful or playing mind games. But viewers saw the first season—they watched Hannah tell her bullies she would make them wait and feel paranoid, just as she had to wait and feel afraid. She deliberately sent 13 tapes to 13 specific people rather than posting a general message online for anyone struggling.
Hannah wanted to fill her bullies with guilt and shame. While some may have deserved it, she was also manipulative toward people like Clay and Zach, justifying it because she was dead and they had to honor her final wishes.
The Bigger Problem with Representation
The fundamental issue with 13 Reasons Why is that it portrays exceptions as if they're the rule. Most people with schizophrenia aren't violent. Most people who listen to punk rock aren't shooters. Most people who self-harm don't think suicide victims are weak. And most critically, most people who die by suicide are not seeking revenge.
People who take their own lives do so because, in their broken mental state, they genuinely believe the world would be better without them. As untrue as that belief is, they aren't trying to leave a mark on society or punish others—if they wanted to do that, they would stay alive. This reality doesn't make for compelling television, but it's the truth that a show claiming to accurately portray mental illness should tell.
What the Show Almost Got Right
Kozak notes that the writers came close to meaningful commentary several times. The hot-or-not list could have been an insightful exploration of how compliments can still be misogynistic when they objectify—a nuanced take on sexism. Instead, it devolved into straightforward bullying without deeper meaning.
The Most Important Message
The core truth that 13 Reasons Why obscures: suicide is never someone else's fault. It's always your choice, and it's never your only option. If you see a therapist and they're not helpful, that doesn't justify suicide. If friends desert you, that doesn't justify suicide. No matter how difficult your environment, no matter what happens to you, it remains your choice.
Kozak ends on a positive note by highlighting advice from Clay's mother in the show: that facing your feelings takes courage, and it's okay to struggle. For those seeking better portrayals of mental illness—whether kinder or more accurate—he recommends several alternatives: It's Kind of a Funny Story (book or film), To the Bone, Good Will Hunting, A Beautiful Mind, Inside Out, Silver Linings Playbook, Little Miss Sunshine, and his personal favorite, It's a Wonderful Life.
