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 … Tracey Walker. It is our responsibility to help them, provide them with treatment and not to present suicide as a viable option. “Pain and mental illness are seen as beautiful and even encouraged.” McGarrell believes that users on social media websites, such as the blogging platform Tumblr, have taken to glorifying disorders such as anxiety, anorexia or other mental illnesses. However, mental illness does not make one’s art great. With… It affects every aspect of an individual’s life; it even affects the capacity to function productively and properly. 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. Depression isn't cute to boys. It is not a ‘desirable’ thing to have in order for a person to be artistic. Whereas racial bias, gender bias, religious bias etc. A guide to the Open Electives on offer for fourth semester students of B.Tech at Manipal Institute of Technology. Tumbl r is where a lot of the romanticism of mental illness stems from. By clasping to these images, we deny people to see the reality of mental illnesses. It’s losing all of one’s motivation, one’s friends and family, and messing up one’s education. Depression is not feeling sad and lonely. When we clasp to such images, we deny ourselves and others to see the illness and people’s suffering. According to WHO, around 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide. One of the most popular platforms when it comes to misusing mental illness is Instagram. Mental illnesses are now widely accepted in our society and it is no longer unusual or looked down upon for a person to seek help from a medical adviser or counselor. Social media use is often pointed at for having a negative impact on mental health. Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren. 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. Although art can be therapeutic and historically, there is a correlation between creativity and mental illness— Vincent Van Gogh, who had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder— it’s not the cause for someone’s talent. It’s completely normal to seek help, whether or not you have a mental illness. Savitribai Phule, first female teacher of the first women’s school in India is a pioneer figure. 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. Netflix’s Sir: The Indian Audience’s Fascination With The Rich-Man-Loves-Poor-Girl Trope. 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. Anxiety is not a glamorous thing to have. © FII Media Private Limited | All rights reserved. It is a powerful stage to break stereotypes around mental illness. People on Instagram and Tumblr start posting triggering photos, accompanied by a caption saying that scars are beautiful. Film Review: The Great Indian Kitchen – Serving Patriarchy, Piping Hot! #WeAreManipal. The easiest way to describe this romance of mental illness is … The worst I find is blogging platform tumblr. Moreover, 55% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults have reported dating online. This is often accompanied by a quote or a caption that scars are ‘alluring’ or ‘beautiful’. Suicide is seen as a graceful way out. It affects every aspect of an individual’s life; it even affects the capacity to function productively and properly. Problem solved. by the paper; Posted on 04/27/2017 04/23/2017; Don’t confuse discontentment and depression: they’re different. ‘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. The findings showed that social media has negative and positive effects on mental health. Similarly, skipping breakfast is not anorexia nor is it ‘fun’ to starve, having a bad sleeping schedule is not insomnia. Firstly, it feeds to the misunderstanding ideas people have about mental health. Another false notion related to this is that mental illness makes you creative. As a society we need to stop romanticising mental illness, as it distorts the actual issue and in many cases promotes and triggers trauma. However, mental illness does not make one’s art great. “I see that on lots of social media. We need to start a honest conversation about breaking stigmas around mental illness, but we also need to stop encouraging its romanticisation. Interacting with someone struggling with a similar illness on a worldwide platform can be very encouraging. To give you some perspective, here’s a 2013 statistic from Mirror Magazine : “ An alarming 34% admitted lying about having a mental illness in the past, according to online therapy service mentaline.com .” We have added the trigger warning. Here’s the deal – mental illness is not ‘beautiful’ and it does not make you more attractive. It comes to the point that teenagers start desiring mental illnesses, which often leads to the fake claims that they have it. Firstly, rather than breaking the stigma around mental health, it feeds to the misunderstanding and misconstructed ideas people have about mental health. It is an extremely isolating experience. Social Media is a good place to start changing the way we look at mental illness. This trend may have started as a way to make people with any kind of mental illness feel inclusive and to reach out them. Black-and-white photos of self-harm scars overlai… It’s a daily battle which has taken many, and it is not beautiful. The Cognizant Citizen: George Floyd- Do Black Lives Matter. 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. There is absolutely nothing desirable or artistic about depression. 1 in 10 people will suffer with a mental illness. 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. A significant contributing factor is people using mental illnesses as adjectives. 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. Why Are We Romanticising Mental Illness On Social Media? Cuts are not attractive. Social media is particularly awful in creating this distorted image of mental health that is sometimes appealing to people, making it an ‘aesthetic’. Illnesses such as depression or anxiety have been overgeneralized and handled insensitively in posts and comments. Just like any other form of mental illness it requires proper treatment. The mental health space can be difficult for many people to understand. However, today, more people are accepting of mental illnesses. We, as a society, aren’t doing anything to discourage it. TV shows and movies present mental illness in a romanticised form. The internet is a great place to discuss issues and notions regarding mental health. Romanticism of Mental Illness By: Estrella Rodriguez How I plan to Help What is it? It requires proper aid and treatment. There is nothing artistic about self-inflicted cuts on your wrists. Nearly one-third of Americans overall and 48% of Americans ages 18-29 having dated online, according to the Pew Research Center. The Romanticism of Mental Health in Media Narratives. It is hard to understand what mental illness is like unless you have experienced it yourself. First, social media appears to have potential to promote positive mental health. In particular, tumblr has allowed teenagers and young adults to share and create unfiltered posts about mental illness. Though, it might be a form of therapy for someone, it in no way enhances someone’s artistic talent or skills. With remarkable finesse, Netflix's Sir captures the redundancy of societal constructs such as class barriers and issues of propriety. A person could feel something is wrong, see themselves not enjoying the same thing as their peers, and decide to go to therapy. While in earlier times, the presence of mental health problems would be greeted by denial and hesitation, it is much more widely open to discussion and treatment than before. After the recent news of suicides of Kate Spade and, Depression is not feeling sad and lonely. 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. What if he thinks that I’m self-harming because it’s a trend? Suicidal people are not ‘angels’, they are human beings who need help. The idea is simple: people pledge on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Vimeo to listen to and support individuals struggling with mental illness. On social media, young people post about their mental health by adding "#OCD" or "#bipolar" to posts. What’s not fine is reading up to three symptoms of ADHD and saying, “I can relate to this so I have ADHD.”, Romanticism of Mental Illnesses in the Media. In fact, by refusing to acknowledge the problem, perhaps we are encouraging it. Romanticism of mental illnesses. 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. One study found that people who interact with former romantic partners on social media are more likely to experience anxiety or depression compared to those who do not. 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