((*TW: Discussion of eating disorders, depression, and suicide.*)) **TL;DR The original *Skins* TV series sensationalises and romanticises mental health conditions. This creates a harmful promotion of ideas to audiences and encourages them to seek the same dark, sad aesthetic that the show romanticises** The original British TV series *Skins* focuses on a different set teenage students each series, aiming to portray the ups and downs of adolescence. It is famous for tackling issues such as such as depression, eating disorders and bipolar disorder in its episodes. However, even though the show tries to portray its characters and their issues in a realistic and mature way, the way *Skins* handled its depictions of conditions including eating disorders and depression was highly romanticised. The most infamous portrayal of mental illness in *Skins* is through Cassie. She is characterised primarily through her eating disorder and throughout the series audiences also witness her undergo multiple ambiguous suicide attempts. She is highly romanticised because of her anorexia, being the prime example of alternative originality in the first two series of the show, with her mental illnesses prominently influencing her cool quirkiness. Her anorexia is romanticised to the point that it is even promoted, in one scene she gives another character a detailed demonstration of how she tricks people into thinking she’s eating. The romanticisation of Cassie’s character is further seen through the character’s wide spread online presence in the real world, where she has been used as a symbol of ‘thinspiration’ across different social media platforms. Her infamous quotes, including lines such as ‘I didn’t eat for three days so I could be lovely’, which romanticise her eating disorder, are posted as pro-anorexia slogans still today. It is clear then that Cassie’s anorexia has been so heavily romanticised that it can in theory be used to promote eating disorders to the teen audience that the show aims at. [1] Similarly, Effy, a character who we follow in series 3 and 4, has multiple mental illnesses which the show romanticises. Although *Skins* makes attempts to handle the mental illnesses in a mature way, as Effy is sectioned because of her suicide attempt, the complications of her therapy again ends up romanticising her depression. All sources of therapy that Effy undergoes are false and are attempts to hypnotise her. Instead of the show highlighting therapy as a way in which Effy could have gotten support, all forms of treatment are portrayed as attempts to get people to conform, again creating a cult of quirkiness and sensationalised edginess around mental illness instead of acknowledging it as a serious issue. [2] *Skins* teaches it’s audience that mental illnesses are things to be romanticised and glorified, and as something that makes a person more quirky, alternative, and perhaps even cooler than others. Instead of revealing characters actively getting help themselves, the show is damaging by instead portraying therapists as untrusting and uncaring - actively discouraging those who need help from seeking it. The series fails to generate an effective social commentary and instead potentially damages audiences of the show. [1] ‘Ten years on, how Cassie from Skins’ eating disorder affected a generation of teenage girls’, (https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv-radio/2017/01/ten-years-how-cassie-skins-eating-disorder-affected-generation-teenage) [2] ‘Skins and the glamourising of mental illnesses’, (https://theboar.org/2016/05/skins-glamourising-mental-illnesses/)