10 Most Important Mental Health Awareness Episodes In Star Trek
2. It's Only A Paper Moon
It's Only a Paper Moon is Nog's episode. There by his side in the holodeck, the song was also for Vic Fontaine. Both gone. Both missed. Both remembered for this, one of the finest episodes of Star Trek, and many others.
It's Only A Paper Moon is a beautifully subtle portrayal of PTSD that earned actor Aron Eisenberg deserved praise from combat veterans. After losing his leg at the battle of AR-558 and spending several months in treatment and therapy on Starbase 235, Nog returns to Deep Space 9. His new leg is hurting, even though the tricorder tells him otherwise. He experiences flashbacks, becomes withdrawn and quick to anger with his friends.
Nog takes shelter and comfort in the holographic world of Fontaine. The holosuite becomes the 'paper moon' of the title, however — an all-enveloping artifice that masks a real-world pain.
Before returning to his family towards the episode's end, Nog admits to Vic that he is "scared," afraid of what might happen next — afraid of death. In The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, Eisenberg also noted his own emotional journey during the filming of that scene:
I grew that day as an actor. Before that I'd always been afraid that I couldn’t get myself to cry on camera.
The title of the episode has another meaning. As the song goes on to say: "It wouldn't be make-believe, if you believed in me." For anyone who faces difficulties with their mental health, that could be read as 'I wouldn't have to make you believe me, if you just believed me in the first place'. Though Nog isn't doubted, many like him often are. It is vitally important to believe and to listen, to ask the following question, and accept the reply:
"Are you okay?"
"No, but I will be."