Mental illnesses are often misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misrepresented in mainstream media, and eating disorders are no exception. In 2024, however, one show broke the mold: Heartstopper, which, after hinting at a main character’s mental health struggles since Season 1, carefully dealt with how Charlie Spring’s disordered eating was impacting him, both medically and emotionally, and how it was impacting his loved ones, who did not know how to help. Netflix’s Heartstoppe

According to new research from The University of Manchester and Princeton University, Netflix’s Heartstopper adaptation turned the graphic novels into a global publishing phenomenon.