If this notion is kept hyped, it will start presenting itself as a valid choice or a possibility for people with depression. We need to start a honest conversation about breaking stigmas around mental illness, but we also need to stop encouraging its romanticisation. This trend may have started as a way to make people with any kind of mental illness feel inclusive and to reach out them. By telling people that mental illness is beautiful, we are teaching them not to seek help or look for treatment. Social media linked to rise in mental health disorders in teens, survey finds Young adults born after 1995 are experiencing more mental health issues. Video: Woman Farmer At Tikri Border Explains Why The Farm Bills…, Exceptional Women: The Erasure Of Women From Public And Private Memory, Hannah Gadsby’s ‘Nanette’ Is Feminist Rage Against Comedy, Taking Up Space: Reclaiming Physical Realms As A Form Of Disabled Dissent. The Cognizant Citizen: George Floyd- Do Black Lives Matter. It is an extremely isolating experience. Savitribai Phule, first female teacher of the first women’s school in India is a pioneer figure. exposure, social media’s effects on romantic relationships, and social media’s effects on platonic relationships. Different problems arise due to romanticisation. Social Media and Mental Illness: How to Find Balance. Romanticisation of mental illness is an awful attempt at making them ‘beautiful’. Saadat Hasan Manto And His ‘Scandalous’ Women, These Are The 15 Women Who Helped Draft The Indian Constitution, Gender Roles And Stereotyping In ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, The Life And Times Of Dnyanjyoti Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule | #IndianWomenInHistory, The Media Needs To Stop Sympathising With Rapists | #GBVinMedia, Video: Inside The World Of Female Masturbation, When The Personal Is Political: Inequality Within Marriage. It’s losing all of one’s motivation, one’s friends and family, and messing up one’s education. Silver Linings Playbook, Garden State, and Benny & Joon show you that to cure your mental illness, you just need to find your one true love, and voila! Anxiety actually causes pain, and panic attacks lead to self harm and hyper ventilation. Black-and-white photos of self-harm scars overlai… According to WHO, around 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide. Anorexic models are not perfect. It is not a ‘desirable’ thing to have in order for a person to be artistic. Tracey Walker. But mental illness is not romantic or glamorous; it can be crippling and life altering. A person could feel something is wrong, see themselves not enjoying the same thing as their peers, and decide to go to therapy. Social media also plays a part in romanticising mental health. It becomes just a ‘quirky’ feature and is reduced to mere traits a person has. On social media, young people post about their mental health by adding "#OCD" or "#bipolar" to posts. #WeAreManipal. But there's not a lot of established wisdom on how best to share such consequential stories. Posts like these start justifying self-harm, rather than educating about the need to seek help. Secondly, the trend of romanticisation has led to people encouraging others to self-harm or commit suicide. As much as it is important to talk about these issues, we must make sure that we are not romanticising and glorifying mental illness. Every time we have a mass shooting, all the politicians and news personalities start throwing around "mental illness," implying that all these mass shootings are the handiwork of dangerous mentally ill people. It might be time to find some balance in your social media life. Social media has turned mental illness into a trend that is glamorous, which shifts our focus from people who are actually suffering from any such illness, by invalidating their experiences. Mental Health is, unfortunately, still a novel concept for what we consider a postmodern society. They describe mental illness as ‘tragically beautiful’. This leads to people suffering in silence because they aren’t taken seriously. Why Are We Romanticising Mental Illness On Social Media? It affects people’s life and relationships drastically, just like any other illness. Social media has become a platform for young people to express themselves and connect with their peers, but it has also become a hub for romanticizing mental illness. Social media use is often pointed at for having a negative impact on mental health. Tracey Walker. It comes to the point that teenagers start desiring mental illnesses, which often leads to the fake claims that they have it. The worst I find is blogging platform tumblr. And just like that, mental illness is ‘tragically beautiful’, and your pain suddenly is termed to be pretty. In particular, tumblr has allowed teenagers and young adults to share and create unfiltered posts about mental illness. Organizations like NAMI have worked to create the I Will Listen Project in an effort to help break through the stigma and the misconceptions surrounding mental illness. Anxiety is not a glamorous thing to have. Whether you’re someone struggling, a friend trying to understand, a teacher wondering how to introduce your lesson, a doctor trying to decide on a diagnosis or simply a campaigner trying to reduce stigma, it … In our society, mental illness has become “romantic,” “edgy,” and “trendy.” Because of mental illness’ stigma in our society today, what people actually know about it is very limited. As a sufferer of mental illness myself the way mental illness is depicted on social media and by society is delusional and a fallacy. Kutcher says the problem is in misinformation. A disturbing amount of blogs and tags encourage self-harm. It’s a daily battle which has taken many, and it is not beautiful. Romanticism of mental illnesses. Social media also plays a part in romanticising mental health. The Impact of Media Mental disorders in the media (e.g., movies, tele vision, songs, news reports) often are inaccurately portrayed, overdramatized, and even romanticized (Harper, 2005). “I see that on lots of social media. Interacting with someone struggling with a similar illness on a worldwide platform can be very encouraging. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Firstly, it feeds to the misunderstanding ideas people have about mental health. Tumblr, a social media site that allows users to blog and express themselves, often fetishizes mental illness. While this open online discussion can help foster a sense of community, there has also been a trend of treating mental illness like it’s something that should be sought-after. On social media websites, while giving example of someone like Vincent Van Gogh, who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, a link is drawn between mental illness and art. Film Review: The Great Indian Kitchen – Serving Patriarchy, Piping Hot! Currently Swoon Lifestyle Health ... retweeting, and sharing the posts. iii . Moreover, 55% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults have reported dating online. The internet is a great place to discuss issues and notions regarding mental health. This is very problematic for teenagers who actively suffer from mental illness, and are unable to receive treatment, as their illness becomes desensitised because “everybody has it.”. Depression isn't cute to boys. Just because you can’t wrap your fingers around someone’s wrists doesn’t mean that you don’t take someone struggling with bulimia seriously. You find pictures of girls with scars on their arms, or a flowery picture of a blade all over Instagram and Tumblr. Suicide is seen as a graceful way out. While some people claim that mental illnesses do not exist, others possess the knowledge about them. While the acceptance of such issues is a positive step in our society, it’s being taken to the other side of the spectrum— romanticisation. It is believed that having mental illness will aid them to be ‘beautiful’. Are ‘Fat’ People Unworthy Of Companionship? How social media is making life-threatening mental illnesses look beautiful and artsy. Manipal’s largest student media organisation, run by a bunch of passionate folks across town. No amount of quotes on Instagram or artsy photos on Tumblr will change the fact that mental illness is not an aesthetic to be achieved. Moreover, Van Gogh himself wrote in one of his last letters, “Oh, if I could have worked without this accursed disease – what things I might have done.” Thus, mental illness does not enhance anyone’s creativity. One of the biggest advantages of the internet and social media is that it can ensure anonymity. The findings showed that social media has negative and positive effects on mental health. "Trendy" emotional distress on social media is part of many must-follow accounts across all platforms. In the end, pain doesn’t equate to pretty. It’s completely normal to seek help, whether or not you have a mental illness. Though, it might be a form of therapy for someone, it in no way enhances someone’s artistic talent or skills. Now, if just one person speaks up about their mental health, a huge number of people come forward about their own, inspired by what others are doing. However, now, this has gone too far. Mental Health Questionnaire: Using advice about quantitative methods and how to do a successful questionnaire, I created a short, quick answer based mental health questionnaire to try expand on the topic from the opinions of the students. ‘Pretty girls don’t eat’ is just one of the many taglines you will find, and suicide is made to seem like a graceful way out. I have read reports on teenagers who were falsely diagnosed with mental illnesses, due to social media sites that have influenced them to create a fictitious disorder in their heads. This trend portrays mental illness as ‘edgy’ and ‘cool’. Shows like Monk, FRIENDS, and The Big Bang Theory have characters suffering from OCD, but are portrayed as cute and lovable, instead of showing the actual burden it is. It comes to the point that teenagers start desiring mental illnesses, which often leads to the fake claims that they have it. Secondly, teenagers, influenced by social media, desire having mental illness, which often leads to fake claims of having one. In media, whether it be through music, television, or social networking websites such as Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram, mental disorders tend to be romanticized or even viewed as poetic. After the recent news of suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain there has been a tremendous amount of discussion about mental illness, the stigmas attached to it and the need to address the struggles of people going through them. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! It stands to reason that these images and posts might actually encourage self … By clasping to these images, we deny people to see the reality of mental illnesses. This is often accompanied by a quote or a caption that scars are ‘alluring’ or ‘beautiful’. However, mental illness does not make one’s art great. For example, “I slept at 5:00 AM, I’m such an insomniac!” When they mean, “I slept at 5:00 AM, but if need be, I can fix my sleep schedule.” Using mental illnesses as an explanation for your daily habits takes away the validity of those who have it. People who suffer from mental illnesses, however, find it harder to talk. © FII Media Private Limited | All rights reserved. 1 in 10 people will suffer with a mental illness. Nearly one-third of Americans overall and 48% of Americans ages 18-29 having dated online, according to the Pew Research Center. On this Republic Day, let us take a look at the fifteen powerful women who helped draft the Indian Constitution. Here’s the deal – mental illness is not ‘beautiful’ and it does not make you more attractive. While social media provides a platform where one can easily talk about these matters at their convenience, it also creates a distorted image of mental health, making it appear to be idealistic. S feeling heavy, to the misunderstanding ideas people have about mental illness had led to people suffering silence., perhaps we are teaching them not to seek help, whether or not you have a mental is... A form of therapy for someone, it will start presenting itself as a way to make with... 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