If you haven’t heard about it already, “13 Reasons Why” is a 2017 Netflix original show that was based on the book by Jay Asher. I read the book way before the show even came out, and since I was still pretty young, it introduced me to a topic that I had very little experience with or knowledge about. It discussed the suicide of a high school girl and 13 tapes that she left behind, each for a person who contributed to why she killed herself.

I enjoyed the book very much, so, when the show came out, I was very excited to watch it.

However, the show has sparked a lot of controversy about issues, such as whether it glorifies suicide or not. My old high school even sent out an email to all of the parents, warning them about season two coming out and encouraging them to not allow their children to watch it.

I understand parents concerns about it and how people could see it as triggering people who may be suicidal but, in my personal experience, that was not the case. If anything, it was the opposite.

Last summer, I suffered from depression and was in a very dark place, which was also around when I started to watch season one of the show.

I just couldn’t understand how the show was supposedly glorifying suicide if the whole plot line was a girl explaining to the people why she killed herself and their role so that they may change their behavior so no one else has to go through what she did again.

If anything, the show promoted how we may not always know what is going on in other peoples' lives and that the things you do and say to them can be harmful, so it is important to treat everyone with kindness. This is not only a good message to spread for depressed people, but also for all people since everyone deserves kindness.

People are also saying the show doesn’t address mental illness, which is incredibly false.

Hannah’s suicide may not have been because of an illness but was due to feeling isolated and hopeless after countless horrible things happened to her. Which is a reason that people commit suicide, not just because they are mentally ill.

If that is not enough for people, the show does, in fact, address mental illness in season two when Clay's new girlfriend is diagnosed as being bipolar and suicidal, which does address mental illness in the rawest way.

As someone who has been depressed and felt suicidal, this show only made me see what a big impact such drastic action would have on other people. It showed me that suicide is not the answer because it will affect other people and that it could lead to many things you don't want to happen, such as a divorce.

A huge part of both seasons of the show focuses on the aftermath of the event and shows how it affected so many people in the community, regardless if there had been tapes or not.

Hannah’s parents are a prime example of that. Her death quite literally tears them apart and they eventually get divorced, which was not Hannah’s fault but rather due to the strain of the suicide and an affair.

The show showed me to think of those that I love before I choose to do something like commit suicide. When it is laying out the possibilities of what could happen in the after math of such an event, it makes one really think about if that is what they want for their loved ones to go through.

The issues that Hannah goes through are all realistic and some that I too can relate to and to those saying that she is being dramatic, if they went through those issues too I doubt that they would be able to handle it either.

Issues such as bullying, stalking, sexual orientation, and sexual assault are all talked about in the show and these are issues that are in fact often not discussed or addressed.

The show started a conversation on all of these issues, which is a big deal since some of them, especially suicide, were not big conversations in schools and homes before.

Now people are about to see the impact suicide can have and they are paying more attention to the signs of depression in kids. More parents are having this talk with their kids, which is very important.

The show has allowed parents and schools to take suicide more seriously and to do even more to help prevent it from happening to other kids, which is exactly what Hannah’s message conveys.