HBO to add mental health disclaimers before 14 shows

MUMBAI: The television network HBO will be adding mental health disclaimers before 14 shows, including "Euphoria", "Girls", "The Sopranos" and "Barry".

On World Mental Health Day (October 10), HBO announced its decision to add mental health advisories ahead of select shows, in order to identify specific mental illnesses that appear in the episodes, and provide a call to action for anyone seeking help, reports variety.com.

The move comes as part of an initiative at the network called "It's OK", which aims to destigmatise mental illness and encourage conversation around mental health issues.

The network has partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) to create the warnings which are modelled on "The following program is rated…" slates that appear before movies and other shows.

The list of series in front of which they will appear includes "Barry," "Euphoria", "Girls" and "The Sopranos" among others.

"HBO has always been at the forefront of telling stories featuring complex characters, some of whom deal with mental illness, from ‘The Sopranos' to ‘Euphoria', encouraging more conversation around the different facets of mental health," said Jason Mulderig, vice president of brand & product marketing at HBO.

"We are not saying ‘viewer discretion is advised'. We are saying ‘viewer conversation is encouraged'," Mulderig added.

Also part of the initiative is a short form content series titled "Doctor Commentaries", which will include conversations on relevant scenes from HBO shows that focus on mental health illnesses, starting with scenes from the Lena Dunham show "Girls".

Each of the seven "Doctor Commentaries" will be around two to three minutes long.

IANS