NataliaNybida

I definitely believe that there is a correlation between comedy and mental health. This is something I have witnessed in people around me as well as in media and society as a whole. Although I do believe that comedy can be used as a tool by people who are struggling to help themselves feel better, I think it is important to recognize the other facet connected to this theme which is when media/people try to make light out of their struggles. Depending on how you approach this, it could be appropriate, but many times I see people, especially in the media, movies, influencers, etc. using real mental health issues that people are dealing with, when they often do not have a full understanding of these issues themselves, in order to gain attention/followers by being “relatable.” To me, it is really disgusting to capitalize off of mental health issues, especially when this is being done by people who do not deal with these issues themselves.

Thank you for this article. Very informative and well written. I think that controversial books, whether you are morally opposed to the controversialities that they contain or not, are never something that should be taken off the shelves. I think that material which has the possibility to be offensive also has the possibility to bring awareness and enlightenment to readers, which is something that we need more of in our society.

It is pretty clear that a lot of research and time went into this article. You made many interesting points, and I especially liked how you included the health benefits of a good scare. I for one love scary stories and I did when I was much younger as well. Luckily, there seemed to be no stigma surrounding them at my small elementary school so I had so problem getting my hands on spooky material as a young child. However, I have noticed that for many children nowadays, even ones in my own family, this is not the case. I think there is nothing wrong with parents looking out for their kids and protecting them from content which could negatively impact their mental state (ex. young children watching R rated movies), but I think that there is definitely an issue today with parents taking protection too far. I believe over-sheltering children can be just as detrimental to their growth as not sheltering them enough.