YouTuber Kurtis Conner went viral recently for his video titled, "These Niche Memes Need To Stop" - essentially, a critical deep dive into the internet kingdom in which Gen Z feminine aesthetics rule (Edit: Not all niche memes are made by girls, but since the vast majority are made by and targeted towards girls, I'm going to be referring to their creators as such). For those of you who haven't seen them all over your Instagram explore page, a "niche meme" is a post that attempts to capture a very specific, dare I say "niche", type of personality, through clip art photos of fashion, make up, and other aesthetically pleasing, often color coordinating objects. For example, a niche meme titled, "I Can't Wait For Sweater Weather" might feature a clip art sweater, plaid skirt, and knee high boots to resemble an outfit, surrounded by leaves, books, hot cocoa, and other things one would associate with fall, possibly with the title of those objects centered on top of them in arial bold font.

Now, all of this may seem fairly innocent, and if anything just young girls looking for a way to express their creativity in a way that resonates with people and generates massive amounts of attention. However, some of these niche memes are quite troublesome in their subject matter. I'm not talking about the ones that emit "I'm not like the other girls" energy - those are just cringeworthy. No, I'm talking about the ones with titles such as "Why Am I So Depressed?" and "God Please Just End It All", featuring clip art cutouts of the Netflix logo, potted succulents, indie band album art, Mario Badescu facial spray, you name it. Not only do these posts make absolutely no sense, but whether they realize it or not, they are also equating mental illness to an aesthetic - and that is very dangerous.

Depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders are NOT cute. Having a mental illness is not a desirable trait that makes you quirky. Depression is not sitting alone in your bedroom surrounded by potted succulents and listening to Morrissey and feeling sad. Anxiety is not being scared to take a test while you wear your hair in a messy bun held up by one of Emma Chamberlain's $30 scrunchies. Bipolar disorder is not impulsively cutting your bangs at 3 am and tweeting about it. These mental illnesses can ruin lives when left untreated. When my battle with depression was at its absolute worst, I was showering once a week. I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't do my laundry so I could have decent looking clothes to wear. My body physically resented me. And my mind? I couldn't go a day without thinking about killing myself. Nothing about that is cute. Nothing about that is aesthetically pleasing.

I've said a lot about why it's wrong, but why are these types of niche memes dangerous? When there's misunderstanding of how mental illnesses affect people, mistreatment is sure to follow, and in this case, for those who struggle with mental illness AND the girls behind these memes. Young people who struggle with varying mental disorders might begin to be perceived as "whining over nothing" and "rich kids with nothing better to complain about". Their peers might be less likely to take them seriously. Additionally, the massive social media attention is not good for those creating the memes, especially if they actually are suffering with some sort of disorder. The last thing any ill person needs, or any impressionable teenage girl for that matter, is a barrage of comments telling them how wrong they are, how much praise they deserve for their account, or how they should follow them back, because it keeps them constantly checking their phone. And I'm not just making this up! The University of Pennsylvania did a study that showed the more time people spend on their phones, the higher they report feelings of loneliness and depression.

So what can we do to stop these harmful images? Well, depending on the severity of the post, you can report it if it glorifies self-injury. But the best thing that we can do is stop following these accounts. Stop sharing and liking posts that try to normalize mental illness. Stop commenting on them, because it boosts their engagement and makes them more likely to land on the explore page. Like all memes, the trend will eventually die out, but only if we don't continue to foster it.