The following post is opinion only and is not intended to offer mental health counseling or advice of any kind. If you or someone you know is struggling or needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text “START” to 741-741 immediately.

If you’ve ventured onto social media at all recently, you’ve likely seen countless posts touting the new Netflix original series ’13 Reasons Why.’ Based on the young adult novel by Jay Asher, the series follows the life of high school student Hannah Baker in flashback as her classmates listen to tapes she makes detailing the 13 reasons why she ultimately kills herself.

When I first began watching the series, admittedly I had never read the book on which it’s based. I simply logged onto Netflix, saw that it was a featured series, and decided to give it a go. And I will say this: those first few episodes were captivating. I found myself wanting more.

But as the story unfolded, my hunger for more turned into an almost sickening sense of discomfort and dread. Sure, I wanted to see what deplorable acts her classmates had committed so I could detest them even more, but I also felt uncomfortable with many of the show’s themes. And as the series drew nearer to Hannah’s suicide, I began to find the whole thing more dangerous than entertaining.

I want to make clear that I am in no way a mental health expert, nor do I have extensive first-hand involvement with suicide. I have never been suicidal myself, and my only personal experience with it is cloaked in the recent suicide of a college friend. Still, I found myself fearing the potential repercussions this show might have for those suffering from suicidal thoughts, particularly young people like the protagonist, Hannah.

And while it’s taken me quite a while to digest the feelings this series left me with, here is a breakdown of the most basic reasons why ’13 Reasons Why’ doesn’t, in my opinion, live up to the hype (WARNING: potential spoilers ahead).

1| It is irresponsibly graphic.

The first few episodes start out innocently enough, but as the series progresses, things become a whole lot more prime time than daytime. The last few episodes, in particular, contain graphic scenes of rape and suicide.

These episodes are preceded by a warning that what follows could be triggering and that viewer discretion is advised, but even I, not one to normally be triggered by such things, wasn’t expecting the raw nature of what I saw.

The rape scenes are detailed and disturbing, and the suicide scene is … unnecessary, in my opinion. They might as well have said, “Hey, kids. If you’re considering suicide, here’s how to do it.” I had to look away numerous times, and I’m guessing these scenes are nothing someone who has been sexually assaulted or is considering suicide, especially a young person, should ever see.

My husband, not one to shy away from gratuitously violent movies, even said, “My God. Is the whole series this graphic?” No. But had I seen that coming, I probably never would have continued past episode one.

2| It romanticizes suicide.

Throughout the series, as each of Hannah’s designated classmates (and even her guidance counselor at school) listens to the tapes, viewers sense their growing regret and shame. This is normal. People feel regret and guilt in the wake of a tragedy such as suicide and wonder what they could have done differently.

Except the way this plays out on screen suggests that it is only through her suicide that these people can love her. In her death, Hannah becomes celebrated. Idolized. Immortalized. The insinuation is that suicide is the only means by which a person such as Hannah will ever realize true acceptance. All is right in Hannah’s world once she leaves it.

For me, this felt like an alarming message to send, especially to people who may be contemplating suicide.

3| It suggests that there have to be concrete reasons for suicide.

The main character, Hannah Baker, is, by all accounts, a typical high school student. She is gregarious, likable, and has caring, attentive parents. Despite all this, however, Hannah finds the trials and tribulations of high school life, particularly with regard to what her classmates put her through, too much to bear.

These details are not unrealistic. Many outwardly “fine” teenagers secretly harbor suicidal thoughts. But suicide is not always the result of specific, tangible reasons. There isn’t always one specific person (or many) to blame. Sometimes it is a manifestation of depression and other mental health conditions, something the series fails to explore.

4| It suggests suicide is a means of revenge.

Hannah’s classmates certainly inflict cruel and oftentimes unbearable injustices upon her, and for that they should be ashamed. And upon listening to Hannah’s tapes, they are.

There’s something unsettling about their sudden remorse, however. The series seems to imply that only through Hannah’s suicide could they see the error of their ways. Hannah sets out to fuel their guilt through her tapes, and she succeeds in doing so, which appears to project this idea that suicide is an acceptable means of “getting back” at others (at the cost of one’s own life) despite the fact that there are many reasons a person might entertain the idea of suicide that have nothing to do with exacting revenge.

This suggestion did not sit well with me and made me worry about how it might impact those struggling with similar hardships.

5| It fails to explore the main character’s mental health.

Throughout the series, there are some hints at Hannah’s difficulty coping with life at her new high school. She isolates herself from others in some instances and even makes drastic changes to her appearance at one point. But the series does not delve into these issues beyond a surface level.

As a viewer, I feel the show recklessly glanced over such an important component of not only suicidal ideation, but also of adolescence — a component worthy of time and investigation when it comes to such a serious subject.

6| It implies that seeking help is fruitless.

At a couple points in the season, Hannah reaches out for help. One of those times is during a class assignment. Students are asked to anonymously add conversation topics to a hat in a life management class. When Hannah’s topic is drawn, the teacher reads it, which hints at suicide, aloud to the class and allows students to disparagingly discuss it and the person who wrote it. Furthermore, the teacher never reports the incident to the proper individuals (something that I, as a teacher, found appalling).

Another time, Hannah meets with her guidance counselor and hints at having been sexually assaulted as well struggling emotionally and socially. The guidance counselor engages in a subtle form of victim-blaming and appears to suggest that if Hannah is not willing to reveal the name of her abuser, her only other option is to forget about it and “move on.” (Again, I found myself yelling at the TV during this scene.)

While it’s certainly true that finding the right help can be difficult for teenagers struggling with issues such as Hannah’s, this portrayal of seeking help as being pointless seems painfully harmful, for it sends a message that even if one does attempt to get help, it will make no difference, if not worsen the situation entirely.

7| It normalizes risk-taking behaviors.

Throughout the series, the teenagers increasingly turn to drugs, alcohol, and sex as both recreational activities and methods of appeasing their raging guilt and shame. And while I was once a teenager myself and am by no means naive — I know these are not uncommon behaviors for teenagers to engage in — the way the series portrays these behaviors makes it seem as though all teenagers do it and it is a perfectly acceptable way for adolescents to relax and handle stress.

It would have been helpful for the series to offer more in-depth exploration of the side effects and consequences of these choices (beyond the sexual assaults and “drunk driving” death of another classmate) as well as other, healthier ways to relax and cope with stressful situations.

8| It fails to adequately address bullying.

Bullying is clearly at the heart of many of Hannah’s difficulties in the series, but the show does not effectively address it and, at one point, even seemingly encourages it.

One of Hannah’s tapes focuses on someone Hannah names as her stalker, a fellow classmate and outcast at her high school. And in the tape, Hannah encourages listeners to visit his home and throw rocks at his window. Although there is one scene where the student’s father suggests they get to the bottom of this bullying, the target, knowing the rocks are the result of Hannah’s tape, refuses. Ultimately, at the end of the series, viewers see this student purchasing firearms and putting them away in a secret compartment in his bedroom, alluding to the fact that the student is plotting some kind of hostile engagement with others, perhaps as a result of the bullying he has faced.

In another instance, Hannah’s mother notices the student bathroom is littered with wall graffiti containing disparaging and offensive commentary about students. Instead of addressing the graffiti and the larger underlying problems with bullying, the school paints over it and moves on.

There are several other instances where the adults in the show fail to address bullying appropriately — from an altercation between two characters that is “resolved” by the student honor board to verbal exchanges between students in class — and to me, this is a disservice, especially to young viewers who may be struggling with bullying or who may believe bullying always leads to suicide or that suicide is always a result of bullying (neither is accurate).

While I found the show alluring at first, and while I certainly think it does have its merits, its downfalls overshadowed its value for me as a viewer and left me feeling fearful of the impact it may have on its audience, especially young people struggling with bullying or feelings of suicide.

Overall, for everything the series may get right about the struggles that accompany teenage life, it gets too many things wrong, and for me, it misses the mark in some scary ways.

If you or someone you know is struggling or needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text “START” to 741-741 immediately.