People Are Warning Each Other About a Mental Health Trigger in 'Orange Is the New Black’

Following the July 26 release of the seventh and final season of the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” viewers are taking to social media to warn each other about a major mental health trigger in episode four — which doesn’t include a warning.

“Orange Is the New Black,” which follows inmates at a women’s correctional center, gained critical and popular acclaim for its humanistic perspective on those in the prison system. The show has focused on the mental health of the inmates since the beginning. Season seven of the series is no different.

In the fourth episode of the final season, titled “How to Do Life,” inmate Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson, a booksmart woman newly sentenced to life in prison after being framed for a murder she did not commit, struggles with her current reality. Feeling hopeless and out of options, “Orange Is the New Black” depicts Taystee arranging her belongings before making a suicide attempt.

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The scene occurs in the last five minutes of the episode and lasts approximately 13 seconds. Taystee decides not to go through with the attempt, but it’s enough to trigger you if you’ve struggled with suicidal thoughts. Like after a graphic scene of character Suzanne self-harming in a season six episode, viewers took to social media to warn each other about Taystee’s suicide attempt scene.

“ok I love OITNB but fuck Netflix for showing another graphic suicide scene in one of their shows with absolutely no warning for viewers. Skip the last 5 min of s7 e4!!!!!” tweeted @kennamorkk.

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Twitter users also called out Netflix for recently removing a graphic suicide scene from the series “13 Reasons Why” but failing to include at least a trigger warning in the latest season of “Orange Is the New Black.”

“so netflix really edited out the 13rw suicide scene just to put one into oitnb. yeah. okay. cool cool,” wrote Twitter user @inthemeantimes.

“13 Reasons Why” follows a group of teenagers as they learn the story of a classmate who died by suicide. Told through a series of flashbacks, the first series of the show ended with a lengthy and graphic scene of the main character Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford) dying by suicide.

Netflix and show creators announced on July 15 they removed Hannah’s suicide from the episode after studies showed the suicide rate among young people rose after “13 Reasons Why” aired. Advocates argued the graphic scene, which the creators hoped would start an open conversation about mental health, was too triggering for many and led to an increase in the suicide rate.

Danielle Brooks, who plays the character Taystee, told TV Line in an interview filming the suicide scene in episode four was very difficult and she would have liked more support on set. Brooks revealed in a 2015 Glamour article she personally experienced suicidal thoughts in the past.