Thursday, May 2, 2013

Generalized Anxiety Disorder in the Media


GAD in the Media
            Much of our understanding of diseases and disorders can come from media depictions of it. When we don’t personally know someone with a certain disorder, it is difficult to get an accurate representation of how it manifests in people’s lived experiences. For this section, I will analyze the two depictions of generalized anxiety disorder that I have seen in the media. The first is featured in the E! reality series “Married To Jonas”. The second was in Michael C. Hall’s character on “Six Feet Under”. These depictions are also of interest due to the ways they were implicated by gender and sexual orientation.
            I normally would not watch a series about Jonas Brothers’ married life, but I was very sick one day on the couch and managed to catch a marathon of it. The series follows Kevin Jonas and his wife Danielle Jonas as he navigates jumpstarting his career as well as his family. Danielle Jonas happens to have generalized anxiety disorder and struggles with it throughout the show. At first, she is uncomfortable telling her husband that she is having severe anxiety and panic attacks again after being in a car accident. She asserts that “I try to be strong for Kevin,” but sometimes my body shuts down” (Larrabee). Originally, I was very surprised that she wouldn’t share this key factor of her health with her husband.
            As the show went on, it became clear why she did not feel comfortable sharing this information with her husband. Kevin Jonas was set upon starting a family and did not want his wife getting pregnant while on her anxiety medication. He has his life plans set up: get his wife pregnant, go on tour, come back and raise his family. Danielle’s disorder is disrupting that for him. Instead of being supportive and encouraging her to do what’s best for her health, he makes her feel disappointed in herself that she cannot have his child yet (Larrabee). To solve this, Kevin Jonas decided to whisk her away on a trip to Italy to get her to relax. She set a goal before the trip to get off her medication so she can get pregnant. When she was unable to get rid of her anxiety over the course of one trip, she was “completely overwhelmed and felt like a failure” (Larrabee).
            Nearly everything about the depiction of Dani Jonas’ anxiety was implicated by her gender and status as Kevin Jonas’ wife. Kevin wasn’t interested in her health for the sake of her own well-being; he was only interested in her reproductive capacity. Dani was depicted as unable to keep it together for her family and for her husband, though certainly not for a lack of trying. Her health was only of interest to the extent that it affected her abilities to produce children for her husband. This was particularly troubling and demonstrated that we still have a long way to go to understanding women’s health outside of their reproductive capacity.
            The second depiction I’ve seen of anxiety was on “Six Feet Under” with the character of David Fisher, played by Michael C. Hall. The show features a few main characters that have various mental disorders including bipolar and psychotic depression. David Fisher is “healthy” throughout the series until he picks up a hitchhiker who he finds attractive. He seems innocent enough at first, until he begins to ask David for money and holds him captive. All other storylines are halted in this episode David is forced to smoke crack, is doused in gasoline, then has a gun shoved in his mouth to symbolize fellatio (“That’s My Dog”). His torturer eventually leaves him and David makes it out alive, but not “well”.
            After this incident, David is seen experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder as well as GAD. He finds himself easily triggered in many situations and fearful that he will see his attacker again. He has panic attacks and is unable to continue his work at the funeral home. At the end of the season, he confronts his attacker in jail and has a poignant conversation with his dead father who insists that “You can do anything, you lucky bastard - you're alive! What's a little pain compared to that?” (“Untitled”). However, this is not the end of David’s struggle with anxiety as he adopts children and fears for their safety and continues to be triggered by certain events. One of the most heart wrenching moments occurs near the end of the series, when David is nearly unable to attend his brother’s funeral due to his anxiety (“All Alone”). However, this storyline was not without controversy as fans were concerned that David’s character was being punished for his sexuality (Nussbaum). The creators and writers stand by their story though, insisting that “I’m gay, Alan Ball is gay; homophobic is the one thing you don’t get off calling the show” (Nussbaum). While this is certainly not true, I’m inclined to see the storyline as another extension of the trauma that many of the characters faced throughout the series.
References
Buck, Scott. "That's My Dog." Six Feet Under. 18 July 2004. Television.
Larrabee, Dory. "‘Married To Jonas’ Recap — Danielle: ‘My Heart Is Literally Broken’."Hollywood Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2013.
Nussbaum, Emily. "Captive Audience." NYMag.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2013.
Oliver, Nancy. "Untitled." Six Feet Under. 12 September 2004. Television.
Robin, Kate. "All Alone." Six Feet Under. 5 August 2005. Television.

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