'I am Jazz' shows how a family's expectations can pressurize children and affect their mental health
Jazz Jennings has been in the public eye ever since she was a young girl. With time, her presence in the media kept increasing for her immense contribution towards raising awareness about the transgender community. Her outspoken personality and a mindset to make a difference gathered her a huge fan following along with a TV show that allowed viewers to get a glimpse of her everyday life.
With the show gaining a lot of popularity over the years, Jazz became a public name and a brand that called for self-love and embracement. But as her popularity increased, so did her troubles with mental health. Mental health has often been a hush-hush topic that most people decide to brush under the rug. Maybe Jazz was doing just that for a long time.
Even though we saw Jazz struggling sometimes, there were rare instances when the topic of "mental health" or even a word like "depression" was used. However, it changed in the latest Season of 'I am Jazz'. For those of you who know Jazz, you might be aware that Jazz often wants to do everything with perfection and most of the time, it comes to bite her.
In the latest episode, Jazz broke down when she figured that things were not going her way. In the last couple of days, the reality star had been going through various ups and downs when it came to making her life decision. Soon, her stress, anxiety and depression caught up with her.
While everyone had been busy talking about how Jazz has a lot to deal with, some of the fans could not help but notice how the reality star was often pressured by her family to be a certain way and make choices that they thought were right. One of the best examples of this was Jazz's decision to choose a college.
Jazz had to decide if she wanted to go to Pomona College or Harvard University. Even though everyone suggested that Harvard would be a better option for her, Jazz thought otherwise. She thought that she would feel at home in Pomona while hinting that she did not want to take the stress that came with Harvard University.
Despite constantly talking about choosing Pomona over Harvard, she ultimately chose Harvard. While her parents were happy, her grandmother Jacky thought that the decision was based on her parent's reactions and it was not her personal choice. Jazz was also worried about how well she would do at Harvard, a university that is known for its brilliant students.
Jazz also hinted that she feels the pressure of being a role model for everyone around her and broke down crying as she admitted that she was struggling to get her mental health together. Looking at how the events shaped in the recent episode, it raises many questions about how pressure and expectations from a family can also impact someone's mental health.
Looking at how the events turned out, 'I am Jazz' allows parents to have a close look at their children and pay attention to any signs of depression or mental health issues.