The Culture of Mental Health, Mental Wellness: Ignoring Mental Illness?

TW: this story involves mentions of mental illness, disordered eating, alcohol, and self-destructive behaviors.

Mental health. Mental wellness. Self-care. Treat youself.

These words are plastered across thousands of social media posts, account bios, and more. The idea of taking care of your mind and body through journaling, exercising, meditating, breathing, and indulging. Indulging can include a homemade meal, sweet treats, shopping sprees, and face masks.

At surface level, these words and motives have a positive connotation and with the power of social media, the movement has gone global. But have these positive concepts caused more harm than good?

When this pro-mental health and self-care wave hit the internet, every other page was promoting ways to take care of the mind, body, and soul. Tips as basic as journaling and meditating and spanning to an off the grid vacation or luxury shopping spree. The jist? Do what makes you feel good.

With this movement came more discussions about emotional regulation, mindful living, and wholistic living. Influencers across the world wide web began promoting idealistic morning routines, rainbow filled diets, and low impact workout routines that incorporated slower, deeper excercises.

This social media craze has yet to die down and has even expanded into body-posi(tive) movements, aesthetic journaling, and online "safe-space" profiles that fuel positive mindset and overall wellbeing.

You'll notice as you scroll through these trends, posts, and hashtags that they all have similar connotations: happy, positive, bright, encouraging, wholesome... the list goes on.

What you won't see? Discussions of disordered eating, depressive episodes, panic attacks, sizeable hallucinations, dangerous self-medication, hospital stays, prescription drugs... you get the idea.

What I (and many others) quickly realized is that mental health and wellness does not encompass mental illness in the social influencer realm. This well-intentioned movement silences the reality for many.

As someone who actively suffers with several mental illnesses, it can feel isolating to see these posts and scroll through comments of how these tips have been "life changing." It can feel discouraging that my mental illness has never been cured with a green smoothie, a 30-minute walk, or a cute journal. And believe me... I've tried. Instead, I need three different medications, quarterly visits to my primary care (on a good year), and sometimes multiple weekly therapy sessions.

These movements are phenomenal for those who don't breach the line of mentally well and mentally ill and should continue to promote such healthy coping mechanisms and boundary setting skills. But the movements have turned a blind eye to harsh realities of mental illness and it needs to be addressed. I've seen creators who try to shed light on the realities of mental illness within this movement to only be criticized for complaining, seeking attention, and not having it "bad enough" (whatever that means?).

At the peak of my darkest days, no amount of medication, alcohol, breathing, or therapy touched the darkness that consumed my mind. So what can be done about this seeming erasure of the mental illness realities in a pro-mental health world?

1. Make space for our voices. In this movement, the voices of those who are mentally ill get silenced by the aesthetic routines and daily walks. Creators who have ground to stand on in these movements should work to promote fellow creators who discuss their reality of day-to-day struggles. Whether that's a simple share of a post or a collaboration that invites discussion, making way for these voices to be heard will help tip the scales to a more balanced position.

2. Show the "other" side of the camera. This is slowly gaining traction, especially with bite-sized mediums like Tik-Tok, but showing the "other side" of the picture perfect display. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast with posed muscles or a creator who admits to falling out of line with their promoted way of life. Revealing what happens when the cameras turn off help break the fourth wall that social platforms have built. As always, it is essential to keep in mind that social media is a highlight reel. But we have the power to change that.

3. Counter non-productive discussions. Opening the platform for discussion is easier than ever - posting Q&A's on Instagram, going live on Tik-Tok, or retweeting relevant content on Twitter which also allows for negative (and potentially harmful) commentary. Learning how to counter those who discard mental illness harbors a more welcoming environment for those who live with mental illness to speak up. It will allow for more productive discussions in the comments which could be the inkling of support that one person may need.

4. State the obvious. On my better days, the encouraging and pretty posts from this movement do not bother me and, honestly, I enjoy them at times. What I have seen from some creators in the movement that should (in my opinion) become commonplace is stating the obvious. Address the fact that the tips you're offering may not work for everyone. Encourage those who may be suffering with mental illness to seek some sort of help, professional or family/friend support. Promote accessible resources within these posts that could help someone find the help they need.

5. Stop minimizing diagnoses. Depression isn't just one day of feeling sad so you watch Netflix. Anxiety isn't just butterflies in your stomach before an event. Paranoia isn't just thinking of worst case scenarios. Bipolar disorder isn't just a moody day. Anorexia isn't accidentally missing a meal due to a busy day. While these diagnoses can have these attributes, feeling the aforementioned on in an isolated incident does not equate to the actual diagnosis. To be diagnosed with any disorder, a lengthy list of criteria have to be met and the individual has to have consultation(s) with a medical professional. Getting a diagnosis was the most validating and heartbreaking moment of my battle. To see/hear someone use my diagnoses in a joking manner to describe a one-off instance is off-putting.

Overall, I love the idea of the mental health movement. I think it is empowering and promotes an overall balanced lifestyle. Making minor adjustments to verbiage in posts and collaborating with those who have mental illness can help reduce the stigma and encourage more voices to share their experiences.