Coroner shines a light on anxiety and depression in powerful premiere

The Coroner Season 2 premiere didn’t shy away from mental illness

We’ve always known Jenny Cooper suffers from mental illness. Since the very beginning of Coroner, she’s taken medication for anxiety.

If you thought it would all be over after she learned the truth about her sister, you’d be wrong. It’s made things harder for her mental state, and the show isn’t afraid to shine a powerful light on both anxiety and depression.

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Liam was quick to bring up Jenny’s reliance on her medication. Her therapist agreed with Liam. She’s relying too much on her medication, so what did she decide to do? She threw her pills into a lettuce patch.

Yep, that’s right. They’re gone as she was unable to find them in the lettuce patch. And it looks like she’s ready to face her mental health issues.

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Jenny knows that she needs to feel but she doesn’t want to

Jenny isn’t just suffering from anxiety anymore. She’s suffering from depression, too. Both of these mental health problems go together, something that I know from experience. Coroner has certainly done some research into depression and anxiety based on Jenny’s reactions at situations. Her panic attacks mimic everything I’ve faced in the past, and those attacks are not each to fight again. You have to ride through them.

She knows she needs to feel. Her medication helps her hold back her emotions and feelings, but that’s not healthy. The problem is she doesn’t want to feel, and she doesn’t really know what she does feel.

When speaking to Liam, she says that it all links back to finding out the truth about Katie’s death. She was directly involved. Jenny was the one to push her sister over the balcony, killing Katie. How should she feel about that? How did she feel at the time? That’s something she can’t remember.

There are too many emotions, too many thoughts. It’s no wonder she wants to block her feelings.

Shining a real light on depression and anxiety

Many TV shows struggle to give us a real look at depression. People come across as bored or just purely detached. The problem is that’s not how depression can appear, especially when mixed in with anxiety.

Coroner is offering a powerful look at mixing the two mental health problems together. We’ve had the look at how panic attacks overtake Jenny throughout the first season, but now we’ve got a look at her need to block her feelings. And there’s the fear of Liam leaving her; she needs him in her life right now but is so detached from everyone at the same time.

Jenny tries to be there for other people, but can’t do that when she’s working on her own mental health. We get that detached part of depression but also her guilt as a mother and girlfriend.

This is not over. Based on the sleepwalking, which can come with stress and anxiety, it looks like this is going to be the focus for Coroner Season 2 in the way the black dog was the focus throughout the first season.

What do you think of Jenny’s storyline? Are you ready for a real light shed on depression and anxiety? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Coroner Season 2 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.