While I’ve never suffered from nosebleeds or nightmares, I’ve had depression and anxiety since I was in high school, so I can relate to Max’s fight with Vecna. Ironically, I called depression my monster or alter ego, because I can’t always tell what thoughts and feelings are really mine. During a depressive episode, I start to think: ‘Nobody cares what you feel, they have their own problems’, which is not true. Butright now, it’s incredibly difficult to reason with yourself, especially as an insecure, hormone-ridden teenager.
Like Max, I had friends who wanted me in their lives and made an effort to be there, but that other part of me, the depressed part, told me they didn’t understand how I felt. So I would isolate myself and turn to books, movies, and most importantly music to get comfortable.
The Duffer brothers highlight the importance of music in the series presenting kate bushthe song from “Running Up the Hill” (which is now #1 on Apple Music). dust (Gaten Matarazzo), Steve (joe keery) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) plays the song for Max while she is under Vecna’s spell, helping her shift her focus from the Upside Down nightmare to the people in front of her. And it is at this moment that Max remembers that she it is loved and supported.
