I would like to start off by saying I’m grateful that mental health is now being taken seriously and that people can be more open. I like how it has become somewhat normalized and people feel more comfortable and are getting the help that they need. I do believe that it is somewhat better then, back then because people with mental illness were seen as crazy or they needed to toughen up. However, with mental illness becoming more normalized, my fear is that it is becoming a trend. I know that mental illness is a sensitive topic but I feel that some people glorify or try to profit from it. There are a bunch of memes and I’ll put some examples above that make fun or try to stereotype mental illness. Especially on tiktok where people will fake having ADHD, Autism or Tourette’s. I don’t mean to exaggerate or diagnose but if you’re faking any of these mental illnesses then you are really sick in the head and are just doing it for entertainment. Other things that I think I’m also guilty of is using your mental illness as an excuse. For me, I’ll sometimes not want to hang out with my friends because I get anxious sometimes in social settings or when in a place I’m not familiar with. I do try to encourage myself, it’s just hard because of Covid. However, I feel that sometimes people take it more extreme like blaming cheating on someone because they are depressed or they have Bipolar Disorder. Another where glorifying and talking about mental illness gets a little tricky is in music. I think music whether you create it or listen can help with mental illness especially if you can relate to what is being said. But when some lyrics are saying things like I take drugs or drink to hide away the pain or depression I think then it can become a little toxic. This can also refer to tv shows and movies. I think it could also make it seem cool to have a mental illness. I don’t want it to seem like I’m hating on influencers but I think that sometimes they make the most excuses using their mental health and sometimes spread wrong information. Like some influencers will say that if you're depressed just hang out with friends or travel. The thing is not everyone can fly out to Cancun when they feel upset. This one influencer, Corinna Kopf, once got in trouble because she made merch with the definition of the word, Anxiety on the back. At the same time, It’s not like she doesn't have a mental illness but it was like you're really going to sell a hoodie that promotes a mental illness for people to look cute in. It just seems a little weird to me. I also think that it is also weird because peole will self diagnose. I feel that I have anxiety adn sometimes get a little depressed but I wouldn’t go around saying I hace BPD or exagerrating it.
