Mental Health In TV: What To Learn On iZombie

Have you ever heard of TV gold? It’s a kind of show that you tend to fight tooth and nail for, especially when someone says that “it’s not that good.”

Well, in my case, that would be the iZombie. I had always been into musical TV, comedy TV, and family TF shows before it aired, and you wouldn’t have typically seen me watching anything paranormal. However, I got hooked on the zombie-filled TV show as soon as I saw Olivia “Liv” Moore try to deal with the zombie virus that she contracted through a scratch at a boat party.

The only TV episode resembling a musical here is the one where (sitcom star from the Crazy Ex Girlfriend) Rachel Bloom appeared shortly. But well, that’s how good the pop culture TV series is!

liv moore on her TV show
Source: pixabay.com

Mental Health Portrayal On Televisions

If you must know, Liv is the heroin in iZombie. She had a beautiful love life and a promising career before the virus transmission happened, but it all went away when she realized she was technically undead.

Liv hid her new form from her loved ones to the extent that her mother and best friend were already at their wit’s end. It was obvious that the outbreak led to severe mental health issues for Liv.

I could even argue that she developed a mental illness or two, like anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. Well, that is if zombies can even develop a mental illness.

Liv only felt somewhat alive again when she started eating the brain of every dead person that came to the police morgue and helped solve their cases. However, these meals didn’t come free.

In fact, they came with so many mental health conditions and mental health symptoms (anxiety and depression, for instance). We can’t really know for sure, but some of these mental health conditions might have included bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and severe health anxiety and panic attacks.

man holding a TV remote
Source: pikrepo.org

What Did It All Mean?

Many people in real life had a comparable situation with Liv Moore. Instead of zombieism, their conditions came in the form of HIV, AIDS, leprosy, etc. But like Liv, they usually tried to hide their illness to everyone in fear of scaring others or getting stigmatized over something that they did not have control over.

If anything, the same thing happens to people with mental health conditions, especially severe ones like borderline personality disorder. In fact, Liv suffered from borderline personality disorder after eating the brain of someone who had been admitted to a mental health facility.

Major was likewise admitted to a mental health facility of the same name after he had panic attacks and was deemed at risk of self harm and harm to “normal people.”

I think this is where iZombie’s critical acclaim stems from. The show stars anything but what we categorize as “normal people.” Just like the show Bojack Horseman, iZombie was not afraid to shed light on many mental health struggles, such as panic attacks.

They even showed uncomfortable but otherwise realistic dynamics, like toxic relationships.

Although Liv Moore’s life story was nothing but a make-believe one, it could still be inspiring for many folks suffering from frowned-upon conditions. She might have had her own mental health struggles and been depressed initially, but she found a way to make something out of her seemingly terrible fate.

When the show ended, Liv became practically a legend who helped prolong terminally ill individuals’ lives (non-zombie normal people).

What Can You Learn From Liv Moore?

A Dead End Might Not Always Be A Dead End

Putting yourself in the shoes of Liv Moore when she found out that she turned into a zombie would let you understand why she thought it was already a dead end.

In time, the woman woke up inside a body bag and realized that she barely had a pulse. She also had to isolate herself from (the TV show’s “normal people”) family and friends and developed depression, assuming they might disown her after discovering the truth.

dead end sign in the forest
Source: pixabay.com

As mentioned above, though, Liv managed to work around her dilemma and created another path for herself as a crime solver. Yes, she had to eat the deceased victim’s brain first, and that’s gag-worthy for most non-zombies, but Liv had to do what she had to do.

That’s the only way for her to glimpse into the dead person’s life before the crime.

Now, there’s no need for you to deal with deaths and murders to think like Liv Moore. Suppose your current dream is donezo, dream of something else. It’s not what you have imagined yourself doing for years, but you can learn to love and enjoy it.

It’s Okay To Reinvent Yourself Sometimes

Whenever Liv Moore ate a new dead individual’s brain, their personality and way of thinking typically mixed with hers. It was very confusing to the humans who ended up realizing her identity, but the self-reinvention somewhat worked in her favor.

That’s especially true when she had to kill one of her ex-boyfriends who had gone full zombie mode and tried to eat her human friend’s brain. After that, she kept on eating a veteran’s brain to avoid breaking down or feeling anything.

girl holding a lipstick
Source: pixabay.com

While I would never recommend staying in denial forever, it’s okay to reinvent yourself sometimes. Take on a new identity and live as someone else for a day or two, for instance. Keep at it until you feel like facing your worries.

Love And Support Do Not Always Come From Blood Relations

Once you watch all five seasons of iZombie and consider this binge-watching as part of your wholesome activities with your significant other, you would see that many folks cared for Liv Moore. On top of the list was Major, the love of her life. Then, there were Peyton, Ravi, and Clive. She also ended up having orphaned kids, who loved her dearly.

team work and fist bumps
Source: pixabay.com

As for her mother and brother, they did not want to do anything with Liv. They merely talked to her in the end to ask for help in getting out of the city. Then, there was a brief appearance of her absentee father, who turned out to be why people became zombies in the beginning.

Thus, it should be evident that your relatives were not the only ones that you could call “family.”

Final Thoughts

What would you have done if you had been dealt with the same hand as Liv Moore? Would you hide it or seek health treatment from trusted health professionals?

Not everyone was as kind or as level-headed as this character. It was easy to embrace zombieism and crack any human skull open, but Liv proved that zombies could be decent.

More importantly, even individuals with irreversible conditions could find a happy ending, so there’s no reason for you to mope around all day long. Like Liv, who is struggling with mental stress and different depictions of mental issues, seek mental health professionals’ help or look for your best support group that encourages you to take mental health treatment. Don’t listen too much to the mental health on TV you often watch.

FAQs

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