Trigger Warning.
It’s time for me to rant on something that truly disappoints me. In today’s society it seems as though most people “don’t believe” that mental illnesses exist or they glorify and romanticize mental illnesses. I strongly suggest that if you are one of these people, please become further educated before you make assumptions or judgments.
I actually heard someone say “When you’re stressed, you eat more. You don’t eat less. So stop trying to make everyone feel bad for you because you’re just a bit overwhelmed. Hahaha. Shut up and eat.” Yes, this person actually laughed while saying this to someone who was stressed and suffering with depression. Weeks later, this same person suggested that because a girl “wasn’t that hungry” for dinner one night, it meant she had an eating disorder. Then again, when talking about a medication used to treat ADHD was brought up in conversation, this person began to laugh and suggested that people who claim to have ADD/ADHD are just druggies looking for an easy hookup. This is the perfect example of someone who thinks they know everything about anything and yet, could not be any more uneducated on the truth. The fact that people can even began to say things like this and our actually confident that what they’re saying is the truth breaks my heart and infuriates me so much.
There are also those people that think that when you’re sad for a week, it means you’re depressed. When you stand in the corner at that one party you went to one time, it means you have social anxiety. That that person couldn’t possibly be depressed because they’re sitting there smiling. “That girl doesn’t have an eating disorder because she’s not skinny.” “That boy doesn’t have an eating disorder because guys don’t get eating disorders.” A mental illness is a chemical imbalance in the brain. They are medical conditions just like diabetes or a heart condition. No one would ever tell a diabetic that they’re crazy for wanting insulin. No one would tell someone with a heart problem, “Just give it time. You’ll feel better!” No one would ever tell an asthmatic that their inhalers won’t help them breathe better. So, why are these types of responses okay to say to people who have mental illnesses?
Then, there’s the people who romanticize mental illnesses. If you’re not sure what romanticizing a mental illness is, it’s when a mental illness is portrayed to be beautiful, mysterious, artistic and a collection of other words that are the last things people that suffer from an actual illness would ever think of to describe the thoughts in their heads. One website that can feed the thoughts like this is Tumblr. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Tumblr and it can be a great place to let off some steam, and create a place to show off your “oh so important aesthetic,” but I constantly see posts on my dashboard of the glamorization of multiple mental illnesses.
Listening to Lana Del Rey with candles lit in a bubble bath won’t cure depression. Being a fragile and broken person who the boy takes care of and fixes like in every other wattpad fanfiction isn’t something to fantasize about. Clothing companies that sell shirts that say “stressed, depressed, but well stressed” is not a cute fashion statement. Saying things like “omg, chipotle was out of guac im killing myself!!” isn’t “hashtag relatable.” It’s making a joke of a mental illness. It’s not okay and it needs to stop.
