In the year 2020, its normal and very reassuring to see our friends and family members in face masks. It can be off-putting, however, to see a favorite TV character wear one.

For most of us, television is an escape. We cling to it, knowing it may help us get out of our heads. But when the shows we depend on to soothe our minds start giving us a dose of a reality about the pandemic, election and other news things can get complicated, according to mental health experts. There are positive and negative effects to seeing real-life scenarios play out on screen, depending on the type of content were consuming.

Specials like Freeforms Love in the Time of Corona and sitcoms including NBCs Connecting and Netflix s Social Distance were made in and about the pandemic , but preexisting scripted series are also choosing to tackle coronavirus storylines. Showrunners for This Is Us, black-ish and The Conners are already addressing the pandemic and its effects on their characters. And network shows about essential workers, including Superstore, Greys Anatomy, Station 19, The Good Doctor, 9-1-1 Lone Star and the Chicago franchise, all plan to take on the early days of the coronavirus lockdown.

But is it healthy for viewers to absorb visual retellings of our pandemic lives?