dear white people

romanticization: mental illness pt. 1

Dear everybody,

today in our world, there's some things that are basically unjustifiable yet perceived as something we should strive for because our media over glorifies it. It might not seem like a thing that we witness nor inflict, but it is a very prevalent issue that we need to learn to stop. There's just some things that do not need to be normalized to the point where our youth is thinking it is okay.

For example; we've taken such a deadly mental illness such as depression and turned it into a trend that if you don't have, you're not edgy. If you don't have sad thoughts, you can't fit in. Our society has come to the conclusion that life is not happiness anymore, it's that we love suffering. We love the idea of our brains not functioning correctly, evidently leading many into a harsh depression and if worst comes to worst, suicide.

Little disclaimer before I rant about this topic; not everybody claims to have depression for attention. In fact, half of America is on anti-depressants. Depression is a real illness, and it does impair you tremendously. People get mentally and physically sick from depression, I'm not disputing those facts whatsoever.

Let me tell you a few things that I've learned; depression is not something to be taken lightly. When you publicize such a critical topic, please watch how you are wording it. By the way our media has perceived mental illnesses such as depression, our youth is leading to believe that it is the worst thing you can have, or if you don't have it you're not gonna fit in. In some situations, publicizing your depression could be romanticizing it. Keep in mind that there is a drastic difference between asking for help by broadcasting an illness to the world, and wanting attention while simultaneously glorifying it. Although depression is not strictly sadness, our media has turned the two into something that our generation could indirectly strive for because it has some edgy perception. Telling others about an illness is okay, and speaking out about what you are experiencing is completely okay! But what is not okay is romanticization of mental illnesses that severely impact people's lives, and it's sickening that a person could take such a serious thing and use it to give them a sense of validation.

If you have done this, but not purposefully, I highly suggest you educate yourself on what depression really is and the different ways it can impact people. Maybe you haven't done it with depression, but something such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, etc. and it could add up the fact that you are uneducated and do not fully understand what mental illnesses are. A lot of issues in our society is that our opinions and beliefs are built on ignorance, and that's not the worst thing in the world because it can be changed. You are allowed to acknowledge your wrongs and then evidently forget about it. Admitting to mistakes, learning, then changing is a key to how our society will be able to make change.

If you have done this, but purposefully, I highly suggest you take yourself off the social media. Clearly if you have done it purposefully, there is no way that you could possibly be educated on what a mental illness is, simply because it's not something to be glorified. It's not cute or fun, in fact, your brain is sick. Probably not your brain in particular because you're romanticizing it which leads us all to believe you really don't experience episodes, but people are mentally and physically impaired and a lot of us who ourselves or have loved ones suffer from these things we'd highly appreciate if you didn't over-glorify it. You might not be the one who has ever had to go through or witness a person physically being unable to get up to do something as simple as shower or brush their hair although they haven't been out of bed in weeks, or you might not be someone who has really experienced a schizophrenic episode, or someone who has such severe OCD that public places is impossible for them to be in. You might not be the one experiencing such things, but there is people who are and struggle with it on a daily basis. I'll never fully understand why a person could over-glorify such a nasty and hard thing, but our society is honestly sickening at this point, so it's no surprise.

Not only is romanticizing mental illness a complete no-no; but so is things such as self-harm, scandal, sex, and trauma. There's many more, but you definitely don't see it as much. Posting photos of your self-harm, believe it or not, is in every way glorifying it! Snapping a photo of something you have again, in every way, inflicted on yourself is undeniably glorifying it! If you had some sort of knowledge, you'd understand that the internet is a big place and there is a younger generation watching us all. We are perpetually telling them things such as self-harm is okay by doing such idiotic things like taking photos and posting them to an anonymous account full of self-harm, anorexia, bulimia, anxiety quotes, depression quotes, and sadness quotes.

Just because you personally don't experience a mental illness, but you want to, doesn't make you cool. In fact, you're quite ignorant. Like you're genuinely a fuckhead. You can't force yourself into one, so can you stop posting sad things now? You're definitely not edgy nor does anybody actually give a shit. Stop publicizing it. You are in a harsh wrong, and I will call you out. I hope the people who recognize these things will too. (There's a difference between someone publicizing something in a good and in a negative way, and it's not that hard to divulge which is which. Please be aware so you can save others from stumbling upon this.)

At this point, I don't have any sympathy for you because you are influencing a harsh negativity on others. Instead of seeking attention or validation by likes or comments from strangers on the internet, seek real help. What you are doing is quite selfish, if you think about it. Instead of seeing photos of wounded arms and legs, I'd rather see empowering photos of people making changes for other woman in third and second world countries.

Long story short, mental illnesses is not a fashion fad. Self-harming and posting it on the internet does not make you "strong" or a "warrior", it's wrong. If you are offended by this, get over it. You are a part of the problem.

There's soooo many more things that our society romanticizes, and I'm definitely gonna make more parts to this. If there's anything if particular you guys would like me to cover, let me know and I'd be happy to write about it.

Dear everybody, stop romanticizing and glorifying things that are not meant to be taken so lightly.