In today's culture, it seems as though having depression has been turned into some sort of fashion trend. Mainly comprised of teen girls, who are eager to follow any new trend that presents itself, this phenomenon is one that I find especially disturbing.
It seems as though these people, who do not truly have depression, see the illness as something that is romantic and beautiful when in reality they have no idea what it is really like to experience it. People who have not experienced this mental illness are completely unaware of how it actually feels to go endure it.
Media and sociocultural influences (Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, TV, celebrities) lead a vast amount of people to believe that depression is a form of "beautiful suffering," instead of recognizing it for what it really is. On Tumblr, there is a large amount of visual material that reinforces the idea that being depressed is "beautiful." According to a recent article written in the Atlantic by Anne-Sophie Bine, teens often will come across statements such as "Can I just disappear?" and "People who commit suicide don't want to end their lives, they just want to end their pain" and then identify with these comments and begin to think that way about themselves.
Depression is a serious mental impairment. Anyone who has experienced it will agree. It is something that is very difficult to live with, and in some cases can be fatal. It is an illness. Depression is something that used to be never spoken about and was ignored in society, but all of the sudden has become something that is talked about almost too much. People are no longer seeing it as a mental illness. It is being shown in the wrong light and that is something that, as a society, we need to discourage. We need to remind society that depression is not something to make light of. It is a serious mental impairment that too often is fatal to those that it plagues.
Blogs on social media sites such as Tumblr show viewers a distorted version of what depression is. They try to justify self-harm with images and quotes supporting the idea that having depression is something desirable. Social media sites glorify depression. They make it into something so "spectacular" that everyone wants to try it. Depression is an illness that needs to be taken as seriously as it truly can be. Making this disease into something that seems desirable is not only unfair to those who actually suffer from it, but also makes adolescents who view it more likely to develop depression or exhibit symptoms of depression themselves.
If you are depressed or think you may be, get help. It is not something to mess around with or to be taken lightly and is fixable. If you do not have depression, stop playing into society's messed up idea of what depression is. Do not romanticize an illness that you yourself have never experienced. See beyond the stereotypes.
