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Toxic Ideas

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Lily: When I was fifteen I had cognitive behavioral therapy. It teaches you how to challenge the irrational negative thoughts in your head that make things seem worse than they really are. But those thoughts weren't just in my head. They were everywhere. Social media, official political debates, even remarks from my teachers and guidance counselors. The ones who are SUPPOSED to be teaching us how to navigate life.
(illustrations: a comment saying "No one cares what you think." A politician saying "They're destroying the moral fabric of society!" A guidance counselor saying to Lily, "Your whole future depends on this test." )
Lily: People treat mental illness like a personal flaw, but it spreads like a virus through society in the form of toxic ideas. It's like the water's been poisoned and they wonder why so many people are dying.

Medication

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Simon: That is a factor, but medication can sometimes help too.
Lily: I'm cautious about medication. One of the main ways people get addicted to hard drugs is by getting legal prescriptions first.
Simon: Nothing wrong with being cautious.
Lily: I went to see a psychiatrist a couple of years after my friend died, because I was depressed. He said it wasn't normal for me to still be mourning, and I should be moving on by now.
Simon: WHAT? Why would he say that?
Lily: Because he was trying to convince me that there was something wrong with me so I'd agree to get on meds. I didn't WANT to, but I almost did. Luckily my mom objected, and I never saw him again. Simon: That's terrible.
Lily: Yeah, so I guess I'm biased.

Anorexia

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Lily: She died of anorexia.
Simon: Oh.
Lily: It was scary 'cause at first she was overweight. When she lost weight, everyone kept telling her how good she looked, including me. Then suddenly she was in the hospital with multiple organ failure. Until then I didn't even know she had an eating disorder. And I had been ENCOURAGING it. Like why is the DEFAULT COMPLIMENT to point out that someone's lost weight, even if you barely know them? It's fucked up.

Moving On

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Simon: I'm sorry that happened.
Lily: It was ten years ago.
Simon: That doesn't mean you have to be over it.
Lily: Thanks. I have to get going. Last time I was late for work, Spencer and Angie reconfigured my keyboard so I could only type in Russian characters.

Stitches

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(Lily is handing mail to Spencer at work)
Lily: These are addressed to Spencer Tom.
Spencer: That's me.
Lily: And these are for your evil twin, Tom Spencer.
Spencer: I'll pass them along. When is everyone going to know that my FIRST name is Spencer?
Lily: Hopefully after this viral hit I'm editing now.
(music is coming from Angie's computer - "but I know that I'll make it out alive if I quit calling you my lover and move on, you watch me bleed until I can't breathe, shaking, falling onto my knees")
(Lily suddenly looks scared and has a flashback, she is driving in a car with Eve at night and it's raining, she approaches a bend in the road. Eve: It's right after this- OH GOD)
Angie: Lily, can you take a look at this?

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