On Tumblr, Instagram and many other websites, “thinspo” and “pro-ana” and “pro-mia” are tags anyone can easily look up. If you type in “depression,” then hundreds of black and white blogs will appear, littered with pictures of empty pill bottles, bleeding wrists, girls crying with makeup running down their faces and GIFs of people pulling triggers with the gun aiming at their own heads.

Romanticization of mental illness is a serious problem on social media and in reality that needs to be stopped. As a disclaimer, you should never invalidate someone claiming that they have an illness and need help. This is for people who knowingly make those false claims to show them the effects their actions have on people who are really struggling. This is for bloggers who promote the glamorization of mental illness on a daily basis over social media.

Know that it puts certain disorders higher up than others based on “trendiness.” For example, the “cool” thing to have right now is anxiety or depression. People who glorify mental illness jump at the chance to say that they have anxiety or depression. These people think having those disorders adds some type of mystery. However, when people who actually have a disorder such as bipolar or schizophrenia, people think that’s too much or scary.

Know that romanticization of mental illness greatly diminishes the seriousness of these disorders in the eyes of society. Society is quick to tell people with depression to just get over it. Just get out of bed. Just try harder. Just live. It’s not that easy. If people who don’t really have a mental illness claim that they do and present it in a way that is false (such as glamorized), then that causes more people to say things like “just get over it” or “you were laughing a minute ago you can’t be depressed” or "it's just a phase."

There is a fine line between bringing awareness to mental health issues and glamorizing them. Bringing awareness to mental illness is so important. Many years ago, people with mental illness were deemed crazy and became institutionalized. Believe it or not, some people still have that mindset. It is necessary for the well-being of people with these illnesses that society is educated and aware of mental illness. But going as far as posting pictures of cut wrists, pills, scales with low numbers on them and other pictures that could be triggering to people all over social media is not the way to bring awareness to such a serious problem.

Depression, anxiety and any other illnesses are not some kind of aesthetics or quirks. They are real illnesses and they are scary to the people suffering from them. They don’t make you mysterious. They don’t make you different from the mainstream people. People who have these illnesses are not proud of them. They are insecure about them. Glorifying mental illness is not cool. You should not glorify it on Tumblr every day because you think it will get you more followers or likes.

Know that people, websites, books and movies that do this contribute to the stigma society places around mental illness. Stigma is a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality or person. People who truly struggle with mental illness go through so much. Their illness causes them to look as themselves as damaged enough. The last thing people with mental illness need is to be judged by others based on the dramatized version of these illnesses people present over social media.

Know that swallowing a bottle of pills is nothing like swallowing pearls that will help you sleep your problems away. Know that a noose is not an elegant death necklace. Starving yourself to the point of malnutrition does not make you delicate and more beautiful than I promise you already are. Cutting yourself is not beautiful. Depression is not beautiful. Crippling anxiety is not beautiful. Mental illness is not beautiful, so stop trying to make it seem so.