Glamorizing Mental Health

Thanks to social media and recent “trends”, it’s become a thing to glamorize mental illness. Let’s start off by saying, mental health is not a trend. It’s not a fashion statement that you can parade around.

Now, for those that are not familiar with mental health glamorization, it’s when people perpetrate the belief that mental health is a trend. Something “cute” that some girls on Tumblr made up. For example, when you see those dramatic, black and white photos on Tumblr of some sad girl saying they wish they had some cute guy there to kiss their cuts. Yeah.

That’s just one example of how mental health has been glamorized. Other examples include “sassy” statuses or Pinterest posts saying “stressed, depressed, but well dressed,” clothing companies like Urban Outfitters selling shirts that have “Depression” and “Eat Less” written on it, finding novelty items like shot glasses that look like pill bottles, koozies that say “I want to have a psychiatric disorder named after me,” shirts that say “I thought I was Bipolar but it turns out I’m just an asshole”. Unfortunately, the list could go on.

This all stems from the obvious stigma related to mental health. The belief that mental health isn’t important, that it’s something to be overlooked because there’s “bigger issues to worry about,” despite the fact that mental health difficulties plague many in our society- especially in adolescents and young adults.

Instead of young adults turning to social media as a way to express themselves in a healthy way, connecting with others that also suffer from the mental illness, researching methods on maintain wellbeing and ways to find recovery; they’re met with glamorized images of mental illness. They’re met with popular images of girls crying with bloody wrists and some guy coming to their rescue, black and white photos of skeletal bodies, and floral nooses. You get statuses like “Ugh, super stressed out! #Anxiety,” “I just like having a clean room. I’m so OCD!”

This all adds to the stigma that mental health isn’t to be taken serious. It leads to those in need of help being ignored because mental health is seen as a “trend” or “they’re just being moody”. This leads to individuals being afraid to speak out because they fear being met with criticism instead of receiving the help they need.

Mental health isn’t cute. It’s not a trend and it shouldn’t be treated as such. Mental health is important, just because you can’t see the illness taking effect doesn’t mean it’s not there. You wouldn’t turn to someone with a broken arm, and tell them to “get over it”.

Self harm isn’t cute. It’s feeling worthless as you cry on the bathroom floor holding a razor to your wrist and wincing as you slice into your skin. It’s trying to hide your cuts from everyone so you don’t have to answer questions. It’s a stinging feeling as you try to shower. It’s holding back tears as the guys behind you make “cutting” motions to their arm.

Depression isn’t cute. It’s locking yourself in your room because you physically don’t have the strength to get out of bed. It’s feeling tired and sore all of the time because depression not only hurts mentally, but physically too. It’s wanting to get up and do something but you continue to lie in bed because you also feel like dying. It’s wanting to speak to your friends and family but you’re too exhausted to move.

Anxiety is more than just stressing over a test. It’s getting so anxious about leaving your room that you breakdown on the floor instead of going to class. It’s having panic attacks in the middle of campus and trying to call someone to help talk you down. It’s practicing conversations in your head before you go out so that nothing goes wrong. It’s trying to find your words and then tripping over them and then dying inside when someone points it out.

Mental health is a serious issue that many deal with on a daily basis. Understanding that and educating others, will help lessen the stigma and hopefully end glamorization.

If you or anyone you know is dealing with mental health difficulties, please seek help. You’re not alone, you’re not crazy, and you deserve to be taken seriously.