Most of the nuance and sensitivity in “Shook Ones”' comes from the backstory-of-the-week cold open, which centers on Jules as a tween. Like Rue, she struggled with crushing anxiety and OCD-like tendencies, to the extent that her parents decided to put her in a mental hospital.
Since Jules was about seven or eight, she dealt with bouts of depression, anxiety, and self-harm largely stemming from gender dysphoria, which eventually led to her mother taking her to a psychiatric hospital against her will at age 11.
While I have not experienced addiction, I can relate to much of Rue's emotional pain, as she was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Euphoria's Ties to Mental Illness
Euphoria's main character, Rue (played by Zendaya) is alluded to as suffering from bipolar disorder, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Throughout the show, the audience hears Rue's thoughts, putting us closer to the character's lived experience.
Rue has a long history of mental illness including OCD, anxiety, and possibly even bipolar disorder, and is prescribed a cocktail of medications from a young age to help her manage her symptoms. She started experimenting with opioids when her father falls ill with cancer and she took on the role of his caregiver.
Rue suffers from ADHD, bipolar, general anxiety, depression, and BPD – and rather than romanticising her trauma, creator Sam Levinson shows Rue's days stretching out ahead of her: a monotonous Sisyphean struggle with her own psyche.
As a young girl, Rue was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety, and promptly medicated; later on, after the death of a parent, she found escape and quiet in drugs.
Cassie is depicted as being eccentric and suffering from several mental disorders — most notably, anorexia nervosa — and multiple issues, including low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, and drug addiction, but is gentle-natured and friendly. Murray described her character as...
A person can't technically be diagnosed with BPD until they are at least 18 years old, and other issues like complicated grief, as opposed to a personality disorder could be at play with Cassie, but Dr. Mills says the character would indeed fit the diagnostic criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder.
Throughout the series we see her go through a lot of trauma where she gets used for sex by everyone around her, her boyfriend McKay going through prejudices for being with someone like her and eventually accidentally getting pregnant and getting an abortion.
On the show Euphoria, Rue is so depressed that she can't get out of bed to go to the bathroom.
Romanticization of Substance Abuse and Mental Health
They use her flashbacks, and angelic scenes that make it seem as if her overdoses are her visions in heaven, these scenes are symbolic to the viewers because of her struggles with substances.
Fezco is a young drug dealer, while also running a small shop. He is highlighted by the relationship he has with Rue in the series which is described as "friends". It is later known in the series that he thinks of Rue as his sister and acts in accordance to that revelation.
Jules is trying to navigate through life bottling up the emotions she's experiencing. Jules was harassed by Nate, left by her mom, and quietly dealt with her insecurities alone. Rue rarely knows what Jules is going through or what she's thinking, which leads to toxicity in their relationship.
After smashing a bunch of glass in the kitchen and attracting everybody's attention, he singles out Jules, asking who she is and how she ended up at this party. Eventually, Jules turns the table on the whole thing, slashing her own arm with a knife in an effort to take control of the situation.
this summary of Jules's transition story, we also find some images and scenes in the series that show us that she is undergoing certain transition processes such as hormonal treatment, which becomes visible through close-ups in which Jules injects herself with hormones in front of a mirror (Figure 1). ...
Her bipolar disorder is always a part of her, but with the support of her friends, she learns to manage it, and even find love and a fulfilling career. With Rue reaching out to her mother, hopefully this is the trajectory we'll see her on, too.
While people with BPD feel euphoria (ephemeral or occasional intense joy), they are especially prone to dysphoria (a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction), depression, and/or feelings of mental and emotional distress.
Then throughout her episode she is taunted by mysterious messages telling her to eat. At first she thinks that it is Sid telling her these things, but later finds out that it was her own mind telling her to eat. She wanted someone to notice and someone to care enough to send those messages so she desired it to be Sid.
Her childhood was twisted with her parents' divorce, sexual advances from family members, parents plagued with substance abuse and lastly, a mother who attaches Cassie's worth to her looks and relationships with men.
Rue Bennett – ISTP. Rue is an unhealthy ISTP who seems hell-bent on her own destruction. Like most unhealthy ISTPs, she appears aloof, detached, and non-committal. Though she has deep feelings for Jules, she often keeps them inside until she reaches a breaking point.
Besides Maddy, Rue Bennett, a Black biracial woman, and Kat Hernandez, another Latinx character, there are few people of color with major storylines in Euphoria. Asian, Indigenous and dark-skinned characters are largely absent.
In 2011, 18-year-old Lovato revealed they'd been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and has been open over the years about battling substance abuse issues and eating disorders. In 2018, she was hospitalized after a near-fatal heroin overdose. But the singer has come a long way since then.