Member-only story
Charlie’s Heartstopper Story Hints at Dire State of Mental Health Services
Queer youth in the U.K. are often left without the help they need
The third season of the Netflix drama Heartstopper, based on the webcomic and graphic novels by Alice Oseman, dropped on Netflix a couple of weeks ago, gaining rave reviews. The storyline centres on Nick and Charlie, a teenage queer couple and their friend group. The show aims at a teenage audience whilst dealing with some serious issues like homophobia and mental illness, but it always shows life through an optimistic lens.
As a queer person growing up in the 80s and 90s, I saw very few positive media representations of queerness. The queer joy portrayed so beautifully in Heartstopper felt healing when I watched season 3.
But as a mental health nurse, I was interested to see how the show tackled Charlie’s Anorexia Nervosa and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, how it portrayed the treatment and support he received, and how it compared to my own clinical experience supporting people with mental illness.
In episode 4 of the new Heartstopper season, Charlie is admitted to a private children’s eating disorder unit, a slight change from the narrative in the comics. In the comics, Charlie attended the Emergency Department (ED) during a mental…