Naomika-Article

I didn’t know having a mental illness was cool

“You see me smiling but I am crying inside”

“Sick of crying, tired of trying, yeah I’m smiling but inside I’m dying”

“Every time I tell someone to stay strong I feel like the biggest hypocrite”

If I got money every time I saw a quote on Pinterest or heard someone say that they suffer from a mental illness but isn’t actually diagnosed, I would be on my way to a five star stay at The Pikaia Lodge in Ecuador.

Hating yourself is a problem, not the latest rage. An eating disorder is an illness, not a reason to fit in with the majority. There is nothing attractive or appealing about harming yourself. Yet, in this time period people seem to unconsciously idolize and venerate it. Romanticize it.

Let’s take Romeo and Juliet for example. When Romeo took his own life we knew that it was romanticization. But it’s alright. We expected that. We expected that due to Romeo’s obvious over empowering love for Juliet. But what about when we romanticize real suicide cases from real people?

It’s bemusing that the recognition for more awareness would tug us into a situation where people started falling in love with the idea of having a mental illness.

The need for attention, stories of emerging from depression, feeling like your not like others because your apparently mentally ill is a dangerous culture that we have entered now wherein critical and sensitive topics like mental health problems are being trivialized.

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.” When a significant percentage of our population is faking a mental illness, there’s obviously a serious problem with how these disorders are being portrayed.

These conditions are extensively serious, beyond one's imagination. Please do not normalize it or exaggerate your situation.

Don’t get me wrong either. I’m not against depicting mental illness in the media and online world. It’s the most effective and convenient as well as a powerful way to spread awareness and educate those who are untaught. But I do feel like those who post and produce really need to understand that mental illnesses aren’t beautiful. They aren’t appealing, cool, trendy or something to worship. These are real disorders that create real struggles that real people deal with every single day.

So if you’re portraying mental illness and problems,show your audience the real side of it. Remind them of the everyday struggles. Remind yourself about your potential young audience. Show them the truths about mental illness, and do not glamorize it.

If you really think you may suffer from a mental disorder, stop blustering all about on your social media.

Don’t label yourself as mentally ill when your most probably having a particularly tough week. Everyone has their bad days and weeks, sometimes even months. Seek help and get diagnosed instead. But don’t ever romanticize mental health problems. Don’t ever think that cutting yourself, mentally crashing down or starving yourself is beautiful or charming. Because it’s not.