Is Reality TV Jeopardising People's Mental Health?

With the news coming through this week that a guest passed away a week after filming on the Jeremy Kyle Show and now that the shows has been axed for good, it has definitely raised some worrying concerns about how TV shows handle mental health.


Obviously there is a lot of speculation circling about the circumstances surrounding this person's death. It's incredibly sad and if it is due to this person's mental health, then a lot of people need to have a long hard look at themselves.



The Jeremy Kyle Show has been a morning staple show for 15 years now. Let's face it, we see all manner of different walks of life sit onto the stage, whether it's to find out lie detector results, DNA results or to just have a right go at each other. I have been one to watch it numerous times, mostly in the holidays when I'm off work.


I have seen so many people on there arguing and ripping each other to shreds over the slightest things. For example, someone accusing their neighbour of stealing a lawnmower or someone called Tina accusing her partner Martin of cheating on her whilst she was down Tesco's doing a weekly shop. They have chosen to go on the show because they feel Jeremy Kyle or Graham can sort out their issues.


However, have mental health issues taken a back seat on this show? Are other reality shows not taking mental health seriously?



If the JK show knew that this person had mental health issues, then they should have taken great care of their needs and assessed whether they would be able to handle being on the stage and being filmed for millions of people to see. They should have taken into account whether they could handle being interrogated and questioned by Jeremy, he does like to get the truth out of people.


However, this person and their family or friends (whatever the story was) must have seen the show beforehand, so they knew what they were letting themselves in for. It must be a nerve wracking experience going on a TV show anyway, but this is a show which does involve a lot of tense confrontations and arguments. It must be even scarier.


One tweet I did see making the rounds on Twitter after the news broke was this - Love Island have had 2 deaths in the last two seasons from 2 stars from their show, should that be cancelled as well as the Jeremy Kyle Show? You can't have one rule for one and not the other. But because Love Island is so incredibly popular and it's so loved by many (excluding me, I can't stand the show!) , it won't get cancelled because there would be huge uproar. Kind of unjustifiable and hypocritical of ITV if you ask me. I am now currently waiting for a mob of Love Island fans to line up outside of my front door with pitchforks.



I think the TV world need to really take into consideration about how to handle contestants or people's mental health. These are people's lives were talking about. Mental health awareness is so important these days as it's getting more attention than it ever has done before.


I think the axing of the Jeremy Kyle Show has opened up a big can of worms about how shows treat people with mental health and rightfully so!


What do you think about all of this? Let me know!
 
 
Lucy
12 comments
  1. This was such an interesting read. I was only talking about how Love Island was just as bad if not worse before. I think because those deaths happened quite a bit after they had been on the show, i think like 2 years, ITV have tried to distance themselves.

    xoxo
    Jess
    The Crown Wings | UK Travel & Lifestyle Blog

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    1. Absolutely Jess, it’s absolutely ridiculous! You can’t do something about one show and not the other! xx

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  2. This really is something to think about! It's really easy to overlook the mental health aspect as a viewer because you're not involved in the situation, but I can't help but wonder what the people on the stage are thinking of. Especially those who get portrayed as the "bad guy" and end up getting booed and interrogated with a camera pointed at them; but it can be uncomfortable for everyone involved in the situation. I couldn't imagine finding out the truth about someone I cared about with a camera pointed at me either. I actually did thing about this though when I saw an ad for this show called "Temptation Island" though, where they tempt their contestants to cheat on their partners; just for the sake of TV drama. I refuse to watch ANY reality show that messes with people's feelings like that. Even on talent-based competition shows I sometimes wonder about it now. Some shows seem like they take good care of the contestants, but others look a bit brutal.

    I don't think these shows should get necessarily get cancelled, but some changes need to be made.

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    1. I completely agree Katherine, I think changes need to be made more than anything else, that programme you've mentioned there does sound very damaging! Why would you want to go on a show where people are tempting you to cheat on your partner?!

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  3. This is so true. It can be so damaging!

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  4. I've never seen the Jeremy Kyle show but I completely get where you're coming from when it comes to rules applying to both shows. If one show is cancelled then there should definitely be consideration about cancelling the other. I think the main thing is to give support to contestants on the show x

    https://www.femaleoriginal.com

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    1. You're right Faye, every little bit of support should be given for contestants on the show, before and after x

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  5. A topic I feel strongly on! I mean the Jeremy Kyle Show should've been cancelled a long time age, but what I don't get is why Love Island isn't?! There's proof that contestants' mental health is affected and yet it's not being dealt with. Horrible!

    Megan | https://meganelizabethlifestyle.com/

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    1. Absolutely Megan! But nothing is being done about Love Island because it's so popular! Ridiculous from ITV! x

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  6. I remember the early days of Big Brother when they screened the mental health of contestants before hand and had psychiatrists back stage for if the people starting struggling (I remember they used to send them into the diary room at times and then sometimes a contestant would leave the show) although I don't remember knowing if there was any aftercare.
    I always wondered about the contestants on the weakest link as well because they would be reduced to tears by the host (whose name escapes me!)

    https://thatautisticfitchick.com

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    1. Anne Robinson was the host of the Weakest Link (I think!) I never thought about mental health with Big Brother! That is a show that would definitely affect your mental health if you were a contestant on there!

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