The Romanticization of Mental Illness

towards the beginning of the year i was

having a conversation with a friend

and we began talking about my tedx youth

and d.a audition

very confidently i said oh my god i’ve

been having so much anxiety over school

lately

i swear i think i’m gonna have a panic

attack soon

however whilst researching my initial

idea for my tedx

talk i thought to myself has the word

anxiety been normalized

so much that it’s the first word that

comes to my mind to describe a mere

feeling of nervousness

my question was answered the moment i

opened the snapchat app on my phone

and began scrolling through my friends

stories i couldn’t help but notice the

number of times i saw something similar

to

quote unquote ivs so hard i’m going to

kill myself

or school literally gives me depression

i’m pretty sure any high schooler

listening would be familiar with these

words

too however according to the oxford

english dictionary

anxiety refers to a nervous disorder

marked by excessive

uneasiness and apprehension typically

with compulsive behavior

or panic attacks so why did i feel the

need to self-diagnose myself

as someone with anxiety and why do

teenagers today

not only normalize this but actually

embrace it

today i’m going to be expanding on three

factors that contribute

to the romanticization of mental illness

in society

how this negatively impacts us and what

we can do to change our outlook towards

this

as some of you may be familiar tumblr is

a social media platform created in 2007

and is currently home 369.8 million

blogs

and 153.5 million posts

tumblr’s unique value proposition that’s

set to decide from

other social media platforms is that

tumblr users experience

semi-anonymity so basically tumblr

members usernames or profiles

don’t have to match their legal identity

this allows tumblr users to interact

with people that

they do not know in real life this

distinctive feature

has allowed tumblr to become a hub for

the gathering and growth of what we

refer to

as deviant or stigmatized communities

now this could be a possible reason as

to why the site has attracted a large

number of users

from various subgroups including those

that might struggle with mental illness

this may seem like a positive

development that all of these users

wish to resist the culturally dominant

pathologizing discourse that depicts

mental illness as something repulsive

but in the process it has created a

mysterious fascination amongst users

towards what is referred to as tumblr’s

dark side essentially this includes

content that is related to mental

illness

that saturates this website including

images and discussions of self-harm

depression and eating disorders

as well as graphic images of self-injury

which often aestheticize it

depicting elegant visuals of razor

blades lying next to or on a body part

through this the web community ends up

supporting each other

not by encouraging the prevention of

this behavior

but actually by normalizing it the

psychology behind this behavior of

normalization stems from pushing back on

stigma

stigma resistance which has become the

center of the cyber community

is what has created a normalizing

discourse on self-injury today

the greatest negative impact of the

romanticization of mental illness

however

is on the youth and occurs through these

social media apps

in 2015 which was tumblr speaker

43 of all users belong to tumblr’s

lowest age bracket

which is 18 to 24 years according to an

article by psychology today

this age of adolescence creates such an

impressionable mindset

that the research from the smithsonian

institute states

how brains are at their most vulnerable

dynamic and

highly responsive stage during

adolescence

so what actually happens from tumblr’s

openness

is that it arises potentially harmful

support

and even endorsement of behaviors such

as starvation or self-injury

addressing the growing concern about the

strong influence of social media on the

adolescent mindset

research by the pew research center has

stated that a large number

45 of teens are almost

constantly on their phones leading to

social media platforms being an

important factor affecting teenage

decision making

following an act of self-harm now the

rate of suicide increases

to between 50 and 100 times the rate of

suicide in the general population

as seen in the examples tumblr allows

the youth to create a romanticized

perception towards the idea of mental

illness

making them think of it as something

depressing or even hauntingly

beautiful a thought that could in turn

adversely affect the mental illness of

not only tumblr users

but youth in society and future

generations

moving on to my second point

as clinical psychologist dr jennifer

baumgartner reported to the guardian

a primary purpose of your clothing is to

create a perception of yourself for the

people around you

clothes create an impression about your

type of employment

your personality your ambitions as well

as your spending habits

moreover they draw attention to specific

features that you want the people around

you to notice

scrolling through my favorite online

shopping websites last month

i came across an unexpected accessory

a large bejeweled hair barrette

spelling out the word anxiety in all

uppercase

not only was this crystal embellished

hair clip designed by british fashion

designer ashley williams

it also cost a hundred and thirty three

dollars

and was sold out on three out of the six

websites it was featured on

over the next month or so to further my

stock

mind for my further my shock i began

seeing a trend emerge a large range of

apparel

including but not limited to hoodies

sweatshirts

crew necks and t-shirts all highlighted

with

large slogans and texts quoting words

such as depression

and anxiety it was evident to me that

this merchandise was

definitely not targeted towards people

diagnosed with these disorders

you would never expect someone with an

illness such as pneumonia to wear a

shirt that reads pneumonia

so why would someone diagnosed with a

nervous disorder want to wear

the label anxiety across their chest or

their neck

now there is a positive aspect i see in

these brands wishing to talk about

mental illness and contribute towards

making it less taboo in society

however by romanticizing these illnesses

and making them seem appealing through

attractive clothing

it can be inferred that these large

multinational corporations

are simply attempting to capitalize on

something

trendy the major downside to this

scenario

is that making these mental illness

related labels prominent in fashion

directly correlates them with something

either glamorous

or trendy after all who wouldn’t want to

wear

the hoodie that reads anxiety or the

silver necklace embellished with the

words

sad girl if all the influencers on

instagram are wearing it

what remains overlooked is the idea that

people

genuinely diagnosed with these disorders

see people around them

choosing to label themselves with a

condition that they never chose to have

in the first place so does this

so-called awareness

destigmatization of mental illness

through

fashion really serve its purpose or does

it just normalize and belittle

conditions people suffer from

by portraying them as trendy

touching upon my third point i’d like to

introduce you all to the byronic hero

first evolved by lord byron in the 19th

century in an attempt to deviate from

the

unrealistically perfect character of the

conventional romantic hero

the byronic hero is an archetype

characterized by a

greater degree of psychological and

emotional complexity than traditional

heroes

byronic heroes often outrightly rejected

traditional societal norms and virtues

and are distinguished by their emotional

and intellectual trauma they have faced

in the past

portrayal of this archetype and the

media we consume today can be seen in

the characters of

jay gatsby from the great gatsby mr

darcy from pride and prejudice

claude frollo from the hunchback of

notre dame phantom from the phantom of

the opera

and even a figure that a majority of the

audience today would be familiar with

batman all of these characters differ

from conventional heroes as they have

taken upon what can be described in

popular culture

as the dark path the phantom from

phantom of the opera is

depicted as someone emotionally scarred

but

extraordinarily talented this

highlights the key problem in popular

cultures portrayal of the byronic hero

the depicted cause and effect

relationship between

mental illness and trauma an exceptional

talent and brilliance as kathleen fergus

has said

society has begun to believe that this

dark path

is a necessary precursor to brilliance

media portrayal undermines the depth of

the trauma faced by people suffering

from mental illness

but instead sensationalizes it as

something appealing

something that has direct correlation

with success and talent

in a society where we crave shortcuts

for success

and media plays such a heavy role in

shaping public perception

we need to be aware of how we are

subconsciously being affected by

concepts such as the byronic hero

now how do these three topics relate

back to us as an audience

whether it be through influential cyber

communities attempting to popularize

their deviants

or companies and individuals looking to

cash in on a perceived trend with no

regard for its real significance

or even popular popular culture and

media

creating hyperbolized perceptions of

portrayed characters by sensationalizing

trauma and mental derangement

the romanticization of mental illness

has led to one

large undermined consequence the

normalization of these mental disorders

stemming from an attempt to destigmatize

these illnesses

people like me and you have been

affected through minor things

such as our language usage now going

back

all the way to my initial point why did

i feel the need to self-diagnose myself

as someone with anxiety and why do

teenagers today not only normalize this

but embrace it

to answer my own question maybe i came

across

and was drawn to tumblr community filled

with people who claim to have anxiety

and who created pretty posts about it

after all

doesn’t everyone on the internet have

anxiety or

maybe i was on instagram and my favorite

instagram model was endorsing a hoodie

that read anxiety

maybe i thought anxiety looked good in

her and i wanted it to

maybe i just watched batman and was

influenced by how his

unstable childhood made him such an

intriguing character

maybe people would find me more

interesting if i had depression

so i started using the word anxiety more

often

and so did all my friends frequently

calling themselves

depressed and some at the smallest hint

of sadness

we never paid attention to our language

the biggest subconscious impact of

societal romanticization

however through self-awareness it is

essential that youth and adults today

are mindful of these negative

consequences and we ensure that the

romanticization of mental illness that

occurs around us today

does not lead to the belittling and the

trivialization of people who are

genuinely suffering from these disorders