Helping Give Away Psychological Science/Helpful resources for themes in Squid Game



==Squid Game --Mental Health Resources for Triggering Topics== Squid Game (Hangul: 오징어 게임, Romanization: Ojing-eo Geim) is a South Korean television drama created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Named after a common but often violent South Korean children’s game, Squid Game portrays 456 contestants, all of varying backgrounds but all facing deep financial turmoil, desperately trying to win the significant sum of cash held in a tank above the room in which they sleep. Early on, however, the contestants realize they have become involved not in a simple game, but rather in a battle for survival.

Quickly ascending to international fame, the show is popular for its high-stakes, action-packed plot, emotionally compelling moments, and complicated characters. However, the violence displayed and heavy topics covered are likely to leave many viewers rattled, and may even recall to mind personal traumas and negative emotions for some. Many potentially triggering topics, including but not limited to suicide, terminal illness, and physical violence, are portrayed in the drama. Unfortunately, the show does not follow up on the troubling topics shown with education regarding resources or support opportunities.

Passionate about promoting better, more accessible mental health support, our team, a subgroup of the group Helping Give Away Psychological Science (HGAPS), has worked to compile applicable resources to address the various triggering topics incorporated throughout the show. If you have viewed Squid Game or plan to view it in the future and feel affected by the themes included in the drama, please feel free to seek support and resources through the links compiled below.

Season 1
Each episode block contains a list of a number of triggering topics displayed in the show. Please note that there may be many triggering topics that were not included on this page. Some themes recur throughout the series, and may therefore be listed in more than one episode. In such cases, the repeat-occurrences of a theme will not have content in the corresponding box, but instead the triggering topic itself will be linked so that you will be redirect to the information corresponding to the first instance.

Here's a link to a synopsis of the episodes (major spoilers!).

About the resources:
We prefer sites that are not trying to sell a good or service, and that do not have other conflicts of interest. We have added tags so that you can see what type of resource it is without clicking on it.

The resources are organized two different ways. Use whichever is more convenient. One is a sortable table, listing more than 30 different topics, and showing which themes occur in each episode. The link goes to the episode section containing helpful resources. It may take some scrolling -- some episodes packed in more than ten different major themes! You can sort the table by each column, simply by clicking the triangles in the column name. The table may be the easiest way to see the range of topics shown in the series, as well as exploring resources.

The second format has an episode-by-episode structure. If people want to unpack all the themes covered in one installment, they are grouped together here.

Season 2
Netflix has renewed the series for a second season, with no official release date yet. It is anticipated to release in late 2023 or early 2024.

Accessing Mental Health Support
If you are struggling with your mental health, please do not hesitate to seek help. Below are some resources to help you find professional mental health support.

Free Self Assessment
Helping Give Away Psychological Science (HGAPS.org) has made free online assessments you can use to check your anxiety, mood, or other concerns and get a free, confidential report and suggestions about where to do for more information or support. These combine some of the best of the free tools to let you check about some of the most common issues with one click. There are versions for teens, college students, and older adults here.

Ways to Find a Therapist
There are many different places to look for support. Below we provide some tips about places to look for a therapist, such as a psychologist, counselor, or other mental-health professional. We focus on ones that are from large organizations (increasing the chances that you may find someone near you, or who better matches what you hope to find in a provider), as well as not charging you to search them. It has become more possible and more common to do therapy by video ("teletherapy"). The rules about teletherapy are changing rapidly. If you want to read more about options with teletherapy, a detailed guide is here.

Who Can Help Me?
When seeking mental health support, you may be overwhelmed by the numerous types of mental health professionals you can seek help from. Below are summaries of the primary types of professionals that may be offering mental health services in your area. Please note that availability, finances, or other factors may impact which professionals you can receive support from.