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