Mental illness is sometimes portrayed as psychotic or scary. On television, you may see a patient acting horrific in a psych ward. Over the course of time, some people have changed their views on the “crazy” aspect of mental health. This makes it a much more openly discussed topic. However, mental illness has become romanticized in popular culture, especially through the use of apps such as TikTok. Mental illness remains to be seen as demented along with the romanticized aspect. Two main views on this topic are discussed: mental illness being romanticized and mental illness being seen as demented. Overall, mental health issues are either romanticized or seen as demented in popular culture.
Some people are searching for something to hold onto
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“On a lesser scale, it has shown in behaviors such as using disorders such as depression or anxiety as accessories to make one’s personality more interesting” (B1). When one has depression or anxiety, they do not usually want others to notice. Alternately, why would anyone want the struggle of mental illness just to be “more interesting”? If mental illness is brought up, it needs to be done “with the ‘faded flower’ aesthetic removed” (B5). It is perfectly fine to discuss mental health struggles, but it needs to be done without romanticizing it. When people are bombarding the world with their aesthetic mental health issues, it takes away from people who need the help. “On a more critical scale, it may lead to the tendency to not seek out help if one is experiencing symptoms of poor mental health due to weary opinions of the older generation suspicious of fakery for attention” (B3). Some people may be afraid of being accused of faking for attention like we see some people doing on social media platforms. People may see the factors that play into certain mental health conditions. They could possibly develop those same characteristics just from watching others romanticize it. “On the flip-side, over diagnosis can also occur” (B8). When people are overdiagnosed, this could make their condition worse because they believe that they have to meet up to those