History Main / MentalHealthRecoveryArc

* The majority of ''ComicBook/Aquaman1991'' shows how Black Manta singlehandedly ruined Arthur's life by killing his son, which led to Mera leaving him. When not fighting past the point of exhaustion, Aquaman is lonely, depressed, and wonders how he can possibly move on from his past and find happiness again after all that's happened to him. After battling Black Manta and Thanatos, however, he's on the way to recovery as he lets go of his self-hatred, learns when to rest, and realizes Mera and Arthur Jr. would forgive him if he forgave himself.
* ''ComicBook/MisterMiracle2017'' heavily revolves around Scott Free (the titular superheroic escape artist) undergoing a huge bout of depression and PTSD, [[{{Deconstruction}} unpacking his backstory]] as the son of various [[JerkassGods abusive gods]]/[[AbusiveParents parental figures]] who left him deep amounts of previously-repressed trauma. Especially as [[MindScrew the world around him starts to make less and less sense]], how Scott perceives the world becomes an almost even bigger issue at hand than [[WarIsHell the war between gods that he's a part of]], and restoring peace within Fourth World is greatly tied with his need to restore peace within himself.

* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'' if you squint. The series is about big crazy fights, and characters are often eager for the challenge, but on occasion, usually with the human characters, past fights are brought up and they lose confidence in their ability to help in the current situation. Noticeably in "Super", there is an episode (76-Forest of Terror) where Goku and Krillin go for some special training to help Krillin regain his confidence, and thus fighting spirit. The training ends up being a "Jedi Tree" situation with magical copies of their past opponents, ones they had, and apparently still hold some amount of fear over. The whole episode focuses on Krillin, and we get a "death montage" of all the times he's been killed, as the copies, including forms of his killers, trigger memories. The heroes of course figure out the trick to surviving and winning, and Killin is able to "get over" his past fears, enabling him to move on with his life and training, but it bears mentioning not all the copies were for him. Among the Goku-spawned copies is King Piccolo, Goku's first real problem he faced as a child, and someone Krillin died before having any experience with, that's some decades plus baggage! This episode is the first to really address the long-term impacts facing these villains have on the heroes. It is short and tries to impart a message that fear makes problems bigger, and by overcoming your fear you can overcome your problems, but it's almost never that simple in real life.

* Inverted in ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'': Shiki had a split personality since birth and was quite well adjusted to it, but then one of her personalities "dies" following a serious brain injury, so she has to adjust to being a regular human with a single personality in her body in the course of the novel.
* The last few episodes of ''Anime/ZombieLandSaga'' focus on the reappearance of [[spoiler: Sakura's depression]] after she regains her memories of her life, where her mental health was much worse than the dedicated upbeat zombie the rest of Franchouchou knew. Once the girls continue singing after [[spoiler: the roof caves in at their biggest concert yet]], she realizes her friends will support her through her failures and starts to recover.

* The premise of ''[[Fanfic/WhatYouKneadNaruto What You Knead]]'' is that Kakashi teaches himself how to bake as a coping mechanism, gradually working through his grief and {{Guilt Complex}}es. Sasuke also gets his own recovery arc, as Kakashi helps him realize that VengeanceFeelsEmpty and that he needs to build a life ''beyond'' the concept of getting revenge upon his brother.

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse has dipped into this a couple of times:

* ''Film/ToTheBone'' is about a young woman named Ellen attempting to recover from anorexia nervosa.

* Due to RuleOfSymbolism, ''Film/TheBabadook'' can be seen as this. The movie centers around a widow whose husband died many years ago and shows signs of clinical depression, which stems from her grieving, and from dealing with her young son who seems to have a learning disability and severe behavioral problems, which include acting aggressively and disconnectedly with other children. When the Babadook comes and torments them, their issues become even worse, with the mother eventually becoming possessed and attacking her son, until he reassures that everything will be alright, she then vomits the spirit and works together to imprison it in the basement of their house. When they get a visit from the social workers, the boy seems to be doing better in his new school, and the mother seems to be doing better mentally and socially. Meanwhile, the Babadook is still imprisoned in the basement and though, it tries to re-possess whoever goes down to feed it, it's always cast away, showing that although the Babadook (grief/depression) can never be fully banished, it's best to keep it in check and not let it become the dominant force in their lives.
* An extremely quick example in ''Film/{{Pollyanna 1960}}''. Pollyanna is left without the use of her legs after she falls from the roof of her aunt's house. As she's ThePollyanna, this causes a DespairEventHorizon where her cheerful disposition completely breaks. There is an operation that could allow her to walk again, but the doctor warns that her depression could prevent her from doing even that. Cue the entire town turning up at the house to thank her for how she improved their lives with her 'glad game' - and it ends with her leaving to go and get the operation (the book confirms she does walk again, but the film leaves it open).
* ''Film/SuckerPunch'' is about trauma survivors and sexual assault victims using performance therapy to cope with the abuse they suffer from a corrupt orderly in a BedlamHouse. The vivid fantasy action sequences are in fact representations of their imagination.
* ''Film/TheDeadCenter'' starts out as a stark, unglamorous portrayal of what goes on in an emergency psych ward. At first, psychiatrist Dr. Forrester ''thinks'' John Doe is just another - if unusual - patient. Aside from the supernatural/horror aspects, the movie portrays this trope with surprising, sobering realism. John Doe is sent to the emergency psych ward because the hospital doctors simply don't know what to do with him. For all they know, he's just some catatonic patient who wandered in and just snuck into a bed. And even in the psych ward, he's no shape to fill out the consent forms. Dr. Forrester secretly - and ''illegally'' - admits him into the ward, because he knows John Doe would probably get left to rot in some corner otherwise. And even then, patients can't legally be put under involuntary hold for more than 72 hours. Dr. Forrester resorts to hypnosis after more conventional methods don't work. There often aren't enough medical staff on hand, so sometimes patients go unsupervised, with tragic results. While John Doe eventually remembers things, [[spoiler: it's really the [[DemonicPossession demon inside taking complete control]] and imitating him to be discharged more quickly]]. The scene of [[spoiler: his panicking father coming to pick him up after thinking John had died]] is ''exactly'' how these situations can play out.

* ''Literature/ItsKindOfAFunnyStory'' is about Craig, a suicidal teen, who becomes enrolled in an adult psychiatric floor and makes steps towards recovery by the end.

* A large portion of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' is Harry dealing with PTSD from [[spoiler: witnessing Cedric's death and nearly being killed by Voldemort]] at the end of the previous year.
* The last third of ''Literature/SeventeenAndGone'' revolves around [[spoiler: Lauren learning that she has schizophrenia, dealing with its immediate effects, and beginning the recovery process]].

* In "Literature/JoeyAMechanicalBoy", originally published in TheFifties, a boy [[ScienceMarchesOn develops autism because of his refrigerator mother]], then gradually reconnects with his emotions and makes a full recovery.

* Season 6 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' revolves around Buffy suffering and eventually recovering from depression after being brought BackFromTheDead and dragged out of heaven in the season premiere.
* ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy'':
** Season 2 devotes time to Jessica's recovery from her rape at the hands of Bryce, meeting other victims of sexual assault and eventually coming forward about her identity on the tapes.
** The same season follows Alex's recovery from his failed suicide attempt.

** Diane's poor mental health was always a subtle aspect of her character, but her explicit struggle with depression becomes a major arc in the final season. After struggling to write her memoirs, she goes on antidepressants despite her initial reluctance. This leaves her happier, but seemingly unable to write a book about her trauma because she feels "too happy." Eventually she realizes she doesn't ''need'' to suffer for her art and instead writes a series of upbeat mystery novels for tween girls.
* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. One multi-season arc of [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Twilight Sparkle]] revolves around her learning to deal with her anxiety.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Zuko's]] entire character arc is this trope. His arc is a realistic depiction of a person who suffers from tremendous physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] and his [[CainAndAbel sister]] and his long-winded journey toward recovery.
* The fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' revolves around [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAvatarKorra Korra]] getting back on her feet after the traumatic events of the season 3 finale that caused her to develop post-traumatic stress symptoms and self-esteem issues.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The two-parter "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers" tells the story of [[Characters/SouthParkStanMarsh Stan Marsh's]] depression, symbolized as him seeing everything around him as literal shit, which is exacerbated by Kyle leaving him due to his cynical nature and his parents divorcing. After being misdiagnosed with Asperger's, he meets with a secret group that reveal to him the cynical truth of the world, getting him hooked on alcohol in the process. Near the end of the episode, Stan quits drinking and decides to accept change instead of being afraid of it... [[StatusQuoIsGod only for everything to return back to normal in the blink of an eye.]] The episode ends with Stan taking a drink of whiskey before returning to his friends.

* ''VideoGame/HellbladeSenuasSacrifice'' is all about the title character learning to cope with her psychosis, rather than being "cured" of it.
* In the good ending of ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', your player character will experience a transcendent moment meeting a [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious giant stick insect]], who communicates with him via [[HelpfulHallucination Inland Empire]] to inform him that insects worship human beings, for the mental anguish they are capable of feeling and the worlds they can create in their own minds, compared to bugs, which have only the simplest of emotions and no consciousness. After this, your character is more confident, facing revelations of his own backstory with an ironic distance, as if surprised by how trivial his own problems are compared to what his emotions ''told'' him they must have been.

* The majority of ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' Volume 4 shows how Black Manta singlehandedly ruined Arthur's life by killing his son, which led to Mera leaving him. When not fighting past the point of exhaustion, Aquaman is lonely, depressed, and wonders how he can possibly move on from his past and find happiness again after all that's happened to him. After battling Black Manta and Thanatos, however, he's on the way to recovery as he lets go of his self-hatred, learns when to rest, and realizes Mera and Arthur Jr. would forgive him if he forgave himself.

* The main plot of ''Literature/{{Toradora}} Portable'', the visual novel based on the light novel and more focused on the anime version made for UsefulNotes/{{PSP}}, is about Ryuuji Takasu awakening from a coma and having IdentityAmnesia, all of this after [[spoiler:being rejected by [[LoveInterest Minori Kushieda]] in Christmas night and staying outside until the dawn, [[ImColdSoCold in the middle of snow]]]]. The game is about Ryuuji discovering who is he and what he did with his life with the help of his friends Taiga Aisaka and Yuusaku Kitamura, the [[spoiler:OfficialCouple]] and HeterosexualLifePartner respectively.

** [=BoJack=]'s character journey has him come to terms with his childhood trauma and unhealthy coping mechanisms, especially when his self-loathing and nihilism ruin his relationships with others. The main lesson for him to learn is that he can't fix everything from the past, but he can keep moving forward. [[spoiler:By the final season, he's gone through rehab, but his ruined career led to an alcoholic binge, a BungledSuicide, and a break-in that lands him in prison. However, even though he'll never fully get rid of his mental illness, he knows there can be good days ahead if he tries for them.]]

* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. One multi-season arc of Twilight Sparkle revolves around her learning to deal with her anxiety.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Zuko's entire character arc is this trope. His arc is a realistic depiction of a person who suffers from tremendous physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] and his [[CainAndAbel sister]] and his long-winded journey toward recovery.
* The fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' revolves around Korra getting back on her feet after the traumatic events of the season 3 finale that caused her to develop post-traumatic stress symptoms and self-esteem issues.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The two-parter "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers" tells the story of Stan's depression, symbolized as him seeing everything around him as literal shit, which is exacerbated by Kyle leaving him due to his cynical nature and his parents divorcing. After being misdiagnosed with Asperger's, he meets with a secret group that reveal to him the cynical truth of the world, getting him hooked on alcohol in the process. Near the end of the episode, Stan quits drinking and decides to accept change instead of being afraid of it... [[StatusQuoIsGod only for everything to return back to normal in the blink of an eye.]] The episode ends with Stan taking a drink of whiskey before returning to his friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' is this for Steven as a whole, as he comes to terms with the trauma he'd been through during [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse the previous series]] and his loss of purpose now that there's no evil to fight.