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What ‘Thunderbolts*’ Gets Right About Mental Health — 11 Lessons For Advocates

‘’The latest Marvel’s Thunderbolt movie gave multiple lessons about mental health, which include mutual connection favours healing, facing fears matters, recovery is hard but possible, trauma, isolation, and shame can be treated.’’. 

Marvel’s Thunderbolts are Giving Major Mental Health Lessons

Nowadays, mental health is getting into the limelight in every aspect, as several movies also increasingly highlight mental health issues as their major themes. The latest Thunderbolt 2025 of Marvel Studios is one of them, as it gets it right about the mental health of individuals. The primary theme of this movie is mental health, and it sheds light on the significance of human connection and the potential strength that comes in unity, especially in cases when battling with trauma, past mistakes, or previous distressing life events. 

This time, Thunderbolt was quite distinct from other Marvel movies, as, instead of having the elements of action and entertainment, this masterpiece had a strong link with emotional honesty. Instead of contributing to stigma, this movie is breaking all the stereotypes associated with mental health and clearly explaining the mental health struggles that individuals can face. Superheroes perfectly visualize and assist in a better understanding of the journey of recovery from mental health issues.

Furthermore, this movie portrays that individuals openly grapple with their mental health issues, which helps the audience to relate or reflect. Several studies have also reported that narratives have a strong ability to leave a strong impact on a person’s thoughts, beliefs, opinions, as well as behaviors.  

This movie also sheds light on the significance of cognitive behavioral therapy for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Breaking the stigma gives a strong message to the audience that having mental health issues is ok and there is nothing to get highly overwhelmed with. The following are the main lessons that Thunderbolts provides for the advocates of mental health.

Antiheroes find strength through mutual connection

1. Antiheroes Find Strength Through Mutual Connection

Unlike other movies where main personalities get their strength through superpowers, antiheroes in Thunderbolts relied on mutual connection, support, and vulnerability to explore their strength. 

Lesson: There is a strong and direct link between strength and mutual connection among people. 

2. Trauma Not Only Shapes Their Origin

In this film, trauma was not explained as a main factor that shapes the origins of the characters, but it clearly explains how traumatic or past life negative or distressing life experiences exert a strong impact on their present lives. In addition, this movie also clearly highlighted the struggles of individuals after experiencing traumatic situations. 

3. Power can Also Become a Burden

It is believed that every power is a gift, but it’s not necessary, as sometimes it becomes a burden. This is better explained by the transformation of Bob into a Sentry. Initially, it was portrayed as a moment of glory, but then there was a rapid turn into a tragedy. Due to a lack of understanding, his power entered his head and became a source of threat to breaking him and the entire world. 

Underlying lesson: The main lesson in this story is that power also needs stability. If the power is alone, then it can not exhibit its strength, but can also become a curse. 

4. Facing the Fears is Important

This story also makes it clear that facing fears is important to deal with them. In the void, Bob takes shelter in the safe space or mental version of his childhood instead of battling with the horrifying room in his mind that is linked with trauma. Yelena realizes that only facing the fears is the key to inner healing.

Lesson: Fears should not be avoided and should be faced with courage and confidence. 

5. Perfectionism Is Not Always Required to Help Others 

This movie also gives a lesson from the initial story, where a person considered himself unworthy and lost himself in a deep sea of shame. But by the end, as the story proceeds, Yelena needed his support as a father. His presence as a present father was important for her, instead of a perfect hero with superpowers.

Lesson: The lesson that comes out of this story is that there is no need to have all capabilities to be a superhero, as simply showing up also greatly matters. 

6. Community Can Aid in Healing

In this movie, isolated individuals make a group, share their individual experiences, and get the chance to learn from each other. They get the benefit of their mutual group in terms of support and healing. 

Lesson: A Community or a group of people favours in the battle with mental health challenges and getting relief.

7. Isolation And Shame Can Be Defeated

The story of Thunderbolt showed that shame and isolation can elevate mental health issues. Along with that, the story also clearly depicts that developing a mutual connection with individuals can help in breaking the chain of mental issues.

Lesson: A Sense of belonging or mutual connections favour in defeating the mental health challenges. Isolation and shame can be defeated

8. Avoidance Can Harm

This movie also explains the negative effects of avoidance. During the entire movie, avoidance was prominent, especially in the character of Yelena. She dragged herself into the sea of work and started abusing alcohol. This reduces her pain but also dims her light. 

Lesson: Avoidance can result in major disruptions.

9. Recovery is Hard, but Worth it

Thunderbolt beautifully portrays the fact that the journey of recovery is not easy, as individuals have to face a number of challenges. For example, in some scenes, the entire team is exposed to the memories together. 

10. Time Does Not Heal All Wounds

Another major lesson of this movie is that only time can not help in healing all wounds. Genuine bonds with people who love you are also required to completely recover and navigate all the mental health challenges.

11. Finding the Purpose Should be a Priority

This movie also clarified that each individual should have a specific purpose to overcome life’s complexities and achieve life goals.

In the opening minutes of Thunderbolts, Yelena tries to escape from reality and thinks that pushing herself into a constant state of stress can help her. However, later she realized that she wanted to do more in her life instead of just paying attention to secret missions or tasks. This story also relates to several people, as they also think that by staying busy at work, they can get rid of the harsh reality of life. But in reality, this should never be done. 

Lesson: Inner emptiness can be easily vanished if a person pays attention to their personality and also has a specific purpose in life. 

Last Thoughts 

Thunderbolts is not just a movie; it’s a masterpiece that gives powerful lessons. It favours the deeper and emotional exploration of each aspect related to mental health, such as healing or recovery, trauma, emotional connection, and exploration of thoughts to move forward in life.  This movie was not just a superhit in terms of story, but also gave several lessons, such as individuals can control their isolation and traumatic thoughts with the help of mutual connection and support. Likewise, fears should never be ignored and should be battled, and showing up is better than being perfect. 

Find your Mental Peace at Brain Power Wellness Institute 

Brain Power Wellness Institute is a top mental health platform that offers the best psychiatric services to transform the mental health of those individuals who are struggling with any mental illness. Whether you are facing difficulty in managing the symptoms of anxiety, depression, OCD, or any other mental illness, we can help you. 

Here, at Brainpower, you can find top-notch and personalized mental health treatment plans. So if you want to unveil your inner potential, then choose Brain Power now.  

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main message of Thunderbolt's mental health?

Having any mental issue is ok, and finding mutual support and professional help is important in the journey of healing.

Which mental issue is Thunderbolt's Sentry suffering?

Anxiety disorder Schizophrenia

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