With advances in psychology and neuroscience, many people are gravitated to understand the way their own brains work, the sentiment growing among Gen Z in particular. Throughout the years, this generation has shown increasing interest in trying to understand the psychological workings of their brains. This is reflected by the Annie E Casey Foundation — a foundation that fixates on the mental health of young people — when it reports that 84% of Gen-Zers believe that there is a mental health crisis in the United States.
Unfortunately, mental health care has never been made as equitable as the accessibility of the internet and other technology is. Neither has the sentiment from other generations to understand mental health have been large. The need for people to understand their mental health combined with the limit on healthcare leads to a larger conflict: people are driven to look at self-diagnosis as a valid form of understanding mental health conditions — especially through sources like Tiktok and Instagram, algorithms of information that trap millions of teenagers under the spell of self-diagnosis.
It may sound crazy when spoken aloud, but consider: has social media seemed to convince you that you secretly were depressed, or that eating less was worth it for a ‘model’ body? People are geared to romanticize reality in short forms of information — consumable, modest, and overall, in forms that are considered aesthetically pleasing.
Why would anyone romanticize the reality of mental health conditions? After all, generations before, the attitude was if anything, the complete opposite. The stigma of mental health issues carried its way through dozens of generations before Gen Z was reached. An article written in response to the glorification of mental disorders, published as a research paper under the National Library of Medicine explains, “the new age social media…[depicts] mental health with ‘creative mystique’ — painting mental illness with a glorified aesthetic,” (National Library of Medicine). As the article goes on to emphasize, social media is a platform meant for the perception of others. Therefore, it is more likely to be depicted in a glorified light instead of a cry for help. The perception of mental health conditions are also skewed by the views on romanticizing life rather than gaining deeper insight into problems that affect our society. Social media makes mental health experiences relatable, instagrammable, and overall, interconnected, pushing away from the ideal of individualism that mental health is centered around.
Despite this, social media and its portrayal of social media may not always be a bad thing. Many people argue that social media may be a positive platform for people who cannot get diagnosed right away. The positive sentiment towards mental health diagnosis is a recent phenomena — as people share their experiences, they are able to understand mental health and are able to build awareness. Although sometimes, the line between romanticizing and destigmatizing mental illness is not clear (ASU). That is where the problem comes in: social media tends to loop these topics together until people are stuck in an endless cycle. Many of us can relate to the feelings this romanticization builds: from self-doubt to confusion, there is less positive representation surrounding mental health conditions shown online.This happens more often than people realize, across social media platforms.
Starting strong, one less-obvious example of romanticization is eating disorders and their representation across social media. Often represented through the glorification of the ‘2000s model body’, combining aesthetics with so-called beauty standards, these videos are promoted as such. This is seen with specific models today who continue to romanticize the stereotype, targeting struggling teenage girls with negative self-perception. Commonly seen on Tiktok, this is known to some as ‘ED-tok’ or ‘Eating Disorder Tiktok’ — an algorithm that specifically boosts this romanticized content. Eating disorders, based on a negative perception of self, combined with negative attitudes, leads to a warning sign where romanticizing and destigmatizing become blurred into one in a format that many do not recognize.
Along with eating disorders, depression and OCD are two more mental disorders that have been romanticized. These algorithms explain the shortened form of depression: being sad once in a while, or being thoughtful and sincere — instead of being mentally and physically locked out of the world. It is now a common phrase to say things like, I’m so depressed.
Meanwhile, OCD has been reduced down to a cleanliness disorder, the phrase, I’m so OCD thrown around like normal. Despite this, OCD remains debilitating, an anxiety disorder that leads to heightened, intense fear and repetitive behaviors that get in the way of daily tasks. These are only a few examples of mental disorders that continue to be romanticized online. With the romanticization of mental disorders comes awkward phrasing and accidental insensitivity. Social media has normalized this phrasing, the insensitivity behind these statements not exactly people’s faults: it is just something to be aware of.
Although some people are able to better understand themselves through positive, realistic, representation in the media, algorithms do not often push this, and people get stuck in “‘Echo chambers’…online communities where people can feed off each other’s negativity and reinforce ideas and belief through repeated exposure” (National Library of Medicine). It is not a problem to self-diagnose, especially for individuals who cannot get diagnoses right away, but it is a problem when it is only done through social media, and it is also a problem when the romanticized portrayals of mental illness are taken seriously. After all, social media cannot replace psychiatry nor research, and it is best to be aware of that when these echo chambers are being created.
At the end of the day, it is not our responsibility to understand mental disorders like a therapist would, but it is our duty to understand the implications of the media and how it leads to a skewed perspective of mental health.
