Celebrities and Mental Health

When somebody grows in fame or relevancy in a certain field, it's not really a secret that a clean image would be a good tool for keeping a fan base or a career. There are some paths they have to avoid going down, or there are some skeletons in their closets that they would rather not bring up. Out of all the skeletons in their closets, why is it that struggles with mental health has to be one of them? In this case, I don't mean in the "it makes me uncomfortable for to discuss it," but in a "nobody believes me when I'm being honest, so I have to hide it" sort of way that toxic people tend to cause.

Say you know someone who you know is going through anxiety or panic attacks—maybe even stimming due to a certain situation out of their control—and you and at least a few other people knew about what was going on and, if the person was lucky, you're able to understand that they are experiencing struggles just like a human being would. And just like a human being, the struggles might be different from the ones that you or your peers might be more familiar with. Now, in this scenario, put the label of "influencer" or "celebrity" on them and give the person a bigger audience, resources to maintain a decent image/career, and change nothing about their mind whatsoever. The resources and opportunities don't make the struggles go away, they sometimes just compel the person to keep them hidden until it's either too late or they finally have the opportunity to break down while still breathing. Not all of the audience that surrounds them will take their issues very well if it means slowing down the production of their entertainment source, but there are still some understanding people who have open minds and ears.

When it comes to the ways of expressing their struggles that well-known people tend to go through, they might be expressed in different ways depending on the person and their access to the ability to reach out to their audiences. Social media influencers tend to use their resources to reach out to their audiences via videos talking about the struggles they have gone through, making written posts on social media sites about what's going on and how they're going to take care of themselves, or even make a song about their struggles (none of which they are obligated to do) as a way to evade keeping them in the dark. Mainstream celebrities have also done similar social media methods to let their audiences know what's going on, as well as making songs, but also bringing up their struggles in interviews when they get the chance (again, not obligated to do so). Of course, both types of people are going to have the risks of people who might not respond to the news of them being honest about their personal struggles very well—not only will pushing their struggles downward be anything but healthy for them, but talking about it will also allow the audience members that go through similar struggles feel that they can relate to their idols a little more.

Here's the point of this article: Although mental health is being emphasized more in this day and age, it doesn't hurt to be reminded that behind every "River," "Unwell," "Daniel and Depression," or any other content that explicitly or un-explicitly talks about mental health, is a person who has either experienced the struggles the mind can bring or has at least seen it firsthand and wants to bring attention to the fact that not everyone sees the world the same way and even the fact that, with enough help, things will get better at different paces.