According to the UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT), HBO series Euphoria has encouraged young people to seek help for drug addictions.
You might know it as “the glitter show” or “isn’t that the one with Zendaya?”. Well, you’re in the minority because pretty much everyone else around you has watched, or is watching Euphoria.
If you haven’t seen it yet, we won’t spoil anything for you. But as the topic of the article suggests, battling addictions is a key theme of the series.
The final episode of the show’s second season aired on Sunday night in the US, and treatment groups have been noticing an increase in the number of people seeking help since the show began.
UKAT’s head consultant Nuno Albuquerque told Metro, “What shows like Euphoria do is to raise the awareness of young people and children experiencing and in some cases, struggling with mature life situations like drug misuse.”
“It’s naive of society to believe that our younger generation don’t use and abuse substances, or to think that we can always protect them. If shows like Euphoria manage to encourage even one young person to reach out and ask for help, then that’s wonderful.”
But Euphoria hasn’t always been praised for its depiction of drug use, with the US Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) criticising the show for glorifying substance abuse.
Euphoria star Zendaya clapped back at DARE, telling Entertainment Weekly, “Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing.”
Rather, she argued the show could help people battling addictions “feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain.”
It looks like Zendaya was right. Not only have treatment centres had an increase of people reaching out for help, Zendaya has also received messages from people who’s lives have parallels with her character in the show, Rue.
Euphoria has been renewed for a third season, with fans hoping it will be released early next year. If you haven’t watched it already – this is your sign.