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Conversations about mental health are finally coming out of the shadows. Topics once discussed in hushed tones are now shared experiences, helping us build deeper empathy for one another.
That progress is precisely what World Mental Health Day set out to achieve when it was first established in 1992. Every year on October 10, this initiative by the World Federation for Mental Health offers a global moment to reflect on how far we’ve come.
While books and podcasts have helped shape this shift, it’s films and series about mental health that often bring these lived experiences directly to life. If you’re still deciding what to do this coming World Mental Health Day, it might be the perfect opportunity to slow down.
Whether you’re planning a cozy movie night with family and friends or taking well-deserved “me-time” to recharge on your own, grab your favorite blanket and prepare your watchlist. We’ve curated these movies and shows about depression and anxiety on popular streaming platforms, great for movie nights with family or friends.
For Children and Families: Gentle Introductions to Emotions
When big feelings feel overwhelming, especially for little ones (or anyone revisiting childhood emotions), these stories can make emotions feel safe, understandable, and even fun to talk about.
Inside Out 2 (2024) and Inside Out (2015) on Disney+
More than just entertainment, Pixar’s Inside Out franchise serves as a tool for emotional growth, guiding children through the nuances of self-awareness with humor and heart. The films cleverly bring complex feelings to life through personified characters inside a young girl’s mind.
The first film, Inside Out (2015), focuses on the core team—Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger—as they help 11-year-old Riley navigate a difficult move, highlighting how Sadness is essential for healing and building empathy.
Its sequel, Inside Out 2 (2024), introduces teenage emotions like Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui as Riley enters puberty, exploring identity formation and the pressure to fit in during adolescence.
Together, kids learn from both films that no emotion is inherently destructive and that even the messiest feelings play a vital role in growing up.
Hilda (2018 to 2023) on Netflix
Hilda is a whimsical Netflix animated series following Hilda, a fearless, blue-haired girl, as she navigates a world inspired by Scandinavian folklore.
After a giant destroys her forest home, Hilda moves to the walled city of Trolberg, where she balances life with her mother, Johanna, and her loyal deerfox, Twig.
The series is celebrated for its hand-drawn aesthetic, vibrant pastels, and its ability to tackle themes like anxiety, change, and identity. It remains a standout in family animation for blending magical adventures with the genuine emotional resonance of growing up.
Bluey (2018 to present) on Disney+ and YouTube
Bluey is an award-winning Australian animated series for kids and kids at heart. It follows Bluey, a Blue Heeler puppy, and her family, depicting their everyday family life with wholesomeness that resonates deeply with both kids and adults.
What makes Bluey echo with audiences of all ages is its focus on the real, quiet moments of family life. They name big feelings, learn from mistakes, and find fun even on seemingly ordinary days.
It’s a refreshing reminder that the best parenting often happens in the simplest interactions.
For Teens and Young Adults: Exploring Identity, Pressure, and Connection
Adolescence and young adulthood bring a whirlwind of new experiences like self-discovery, social expectations, and the longing for real belonging.
These series and films about teenage and young adult mental health capture that intensity with honesty, showing how vulnerability can lead to deeper, more authentic relationships.
KPop Demon Hunters (2025) on Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters is one of the most celebrated films about mental health on Netflix, powerfully showing how self-acceptance and connection foster genuine emotional healing.
Beyond its action-fantasy exterior, the film treats grief as something that attacks from outside and within. Rumi captures this tension, as she’s a demon hunter sworn to destroy monsters, yet she bears their glowing marks herself. This carries the very weight of what she’s fighting against.
Ultimately, this global, award-winning hit proves that resilience blooms when you stop hiding your shadows and allow yourself to be loved in your entirety.
Ang Mutya ng Section E (2025) on Viva One
Ang Mutya ng Section E (AMNSE) brings the beloved Wattpad sensation to the screen, extending its popularity from the reading platform into international households.
It centers around Jayjay, a transfer student who bravely joins an all-male class of widely misunderstood misfits. As the only girl in the room, she challenges the stigma surrounding them and redefines the classroom dynamic.
Beneath the chaos and comedy, the series explores the anxiety of being an outsider, the crushing pressure to prove yourself in hostile environments, and the emotional toll of fighting for your place every single day.
It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2025 Philippine Adaptation and 2020 Korean Original) on Netflix and iWantTFC
The 2020 Korean original and the 2025 Philippine adaptation of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay are heartfelt shows celebrating mental health and healing. Both follow a guarded children’s book author haunted by her past and a kind caregiver devoted to his brother with autism.
While the Korean original uses dark fairy-tale visuals to critique societal stigma, the Pinoy adaptation infuses the story with warm local soul. It replaces emotional restraint with vibrant family banter and the complex weight of hiya.
Both series handle autism and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with incredible care, pushing for empathy in cultures that often silence mental struggles.
They remain a powerful reminder that letting others in is the first step toward wholeness, proving that vulnerability is a true mark of strength.
A Sign of Affection (2024) on Crunchyroll and Netflix
Adapted from a romance manga, A Sign of Affection follows Yuki, a college student with congenital hearing loss who navigates her world with independence and quiet grace.
When she meets Itsuomi, a multilingual traveler, their blossoming connection challenges her fears about being understood.
The series celebrates the beauty of opening one’s heart, illustrating how authentic connection empowers us to feel fully seen.
Touch Your Heart (2019) on iQIYI
Touch Your Heart is a heartwarming Korean drama that follows Oh Jin-shim, a top actress whose career takes a hit after a scandal, forcing her to work as a secretary at a law firm to land a comeback role.
Beneath its charming romantic-comedy surface, the series thoughtfully handles themes of workplace anxiety, public stigma, trauma recovery, and social isolation following a major crisis.
Jin-shim’s journey highlights the power of quiet resilience, showing how a supportive environment, patience, and meaningful connections can help rebuild self-worth and bring emotional healing after a dark season.
For Adults: A Closer Look at Grief, Resilience, and Healing
Life’s heavier chapters deserve stories that honor the full spectrum of pain and recovery, illustrating how resilience often emerges from shared vulnerability and quiet support.
Love, Siargao (2026) on Viu
In Love, Siargao, strangers Kara and Jao cross paths and fall under two contrasting takes on the “Siargao Curse,” or the belief that the island can make visitors fall in love with the place so deeply they never want to leave, or it can also pull lovers apart.
As Kara and Jao navigate their heartbreaks, the show reveals how a fresh start in a quiet, tropical setting can inspire healing, second chances, and letting go.
To Your Eternity (2021) on Crunchyroll
To Your Eternity is a deeply emotional anime that follows Fushi, an immortal being who learns what it means to be human through bonds that form and fade over time.
As Fushi witnesses the passing of loved ones, the series explores profound grief, the fear of attachment, and what it means to keep living when loss feels unbearable.
The show portrays one’s departure directly while also delivering a message of hope that even when everything is taken away, the connections and lessons remain inside you forever. It also explains how grief can become a part of growth, and that meaning comes from choosing not to let pain erase it.
Fruits Basket (2019, 2001) on Crunchyroll and Netflix
Fruits Basket follows Tohru Honda, an orphaned girl who discovers a family cursed to transform into animals of the Chinese zodiac.
The curse symbolizes internalized shame and fear of intimacy, and breaking it requires forgiveness of self and others, and the courage to accept love despite feeling “unlovable.”
At its core, the series reminds us that it’s okay to be hurt and ask for help. Healing isn’t neat or linear, but it’s always worth striving for.
Coco (2017) on Disney+
Coco explores the themes of loss, memory, and family as it follows Miguel, a young boy who dreams of becoming a musician. This dream puts him at odds with his family, who banned music generations ago because of a painful past.
Set in the backdrop of the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Coco is a profound story about generational healing. It redefines passing as more than an end. Instead, it becomes a call to remember, and shows that healing a broken family begins by facing uncomfortable truths with love and empathy.
Reply 1988 (2015) on Netflix and Viu
Set in late-1980s Seoul, Reply 1988 follows the intertwined lives of five childhood friends and their families. All of them live in Ssangmundong, a close-knit and humble neighborhood.
The series avoids over-the-top tragedy in its depiction of grief, and instead treats pain as a natural part of life, while showing that resilience grows from love, community, and the courage to keep cherishing each other through it all.
In the end, it becomes a bittersweet reflection on change and nostalgia, reminding viewers that moving forward doesn’t mean letting go of grief, but learning how to live fully alongside it.
Find Comfort and Convenience with Uninterrupted Streaming
Series and films about anxiety, depression, and other mental health themes deserve a prime spot on your watchlist. They gently show the struggles people go through and help build empathy for others and ourselves.
Today, streaming platforms make it easier than ever to access these meaningful stories. With Globe, staying connected and managing your subscriptions is just as effortless.
For the best experience at home, a dedicated fiber internet connection provides the steady speed needed for high-definition marathons. You can choose the stability of GFiber Postpaid’s fixed monthly plan or the freedom of GFiber Prepaid’s reloadable, contract-free setup that suits a more flexible budget.
If you’re often streaming on the go, mobile postpaid plans offer the security of unlimited data, while prepaid promos are perfect for adding extra GBs specifically for video apps.
Even better is that you can subscribe to or charge streaming passes directly to your Globe bill or redeem them on Globe Rewards, accessible via the GlobeOne app, so you don’t miss out on the best mental health films and series that you can watch online.
