I'm in the middle of a story that I tagged sad. The primary character falls into a depression, winds up self-harming herself, gets put in the mental hospital and then once she is freed, things start to improve for her and in the end, she winds up as an item with her best friend. Would such a story still be able to be marked as sad?

There a drama tag

Yes. We call it bittersweet!

7311514 That's kind of the premise of what happens in my novel, and I didn't feel the need to mark it as sad.

7311514

In my opinion, yes.

7311514 Yes. The trick is making it seem believable and rewarding after all the hardship the hero or heroes had to endure. There's even a trope name "Earn Your Happy Ending" that fits that quite well.

7311594

No but there probably should be given the nature of it.

7311619
Well I do have a way to make it bittersweet. Have my protagonist's life never be the same as it once was.

7311896
That sounds a lot like what i am having happen.

7311652
Alright.

7311847
I tend to agree. Early on in the story it is sad, so sad that I actually had tears streaming down my face as I wrote it....and the protagonist, Starlight Glimmer, wound up going through struggles I went through in the past.