Mental Illness in Star Trek and Science Fiction
In today's science fiction representation matters. One way that authors represent marginalized people is to write stories about mental illness. It is not only important to have characters who suffer from some sort of mental illness but to treat it with compassion and to try to bring awareness. It isn't surprising that Star Trek Picard Season 2 has decided to tackle this topic. Will it only be about representation? S cience fiction explores technological innovations and the possible consequences to society. In stories about mental illness, a writer will take us to a world where a civilization or our future civilization has proclaimed that they have cured mental illness and then analyze how this would affect society while also making commentary on social problems we face today. A small example of this is the short story by Robert Bloch, "Comfort Me, My Robot". This story takes place in the 22nd Century, in a time after a blast de...