The Media Glamorizes Mental Health
Ever since the creation of the internet, society has unknowingly gained a powerful platform to spread right values, and even some wrong ones. As such, never before in history have suicide rates in the United States increased so substantially as people tip over the edge of the psychological fence, and a major player in this game of life or death, is the media.
Hit Netflix TV show “13 Reasons Why” presents itself as the apex example of the psychological detriment the media has on the mental health of today’s society. The show follows the narrative of Hannah Baker, a teenage victim of bullying, harassment and sexual assault. When Hannah seeks professional help from her school counselor, she receives unhelpful advice, ultimately leading to her dying by suicide.
By portraying professional help as pointless, the show creates a destructive image of certified or trusted individuals who can potentially help those with mental illnesses, essentially leaving suicide-risk people with limited options for help. Clearly, there is a strong glamorization of suicide with negative mental health stigmas attached to create an elaborate show in the quest for teenage melodrama.
Teenagers themselves are developing a “culture of depression” on social media, almost making the illness a “trend.” All over the internet are quotes and images that portray depression and pain as something “relatable” and “meaningful”, such as, “I think suicidal people are just angels that want to go home” and “When is it my turn for happiness?” or “Let it hurt until it can’t hurt anymore,” and this is barely scratching the surface. Spreading the belief that suicidal people are just angels that want to go home can discourage people to help/reach out to those with depression as they think they’re just “angels.” Similarly, doing nothing about bettering your mental health and just letting it be as you hope will something happen will lead to only more pain. Instead, one must reach out to help and talk to others before dealing with it themselves. Even such, social media isn’t the only media that hands out detrimental advice for teenagers to blindly follow. Many laments and lament artists outright promote suicide as an option.
A prime example of this can be seen in “hell is where i dreamt of u and woke up alone,” a song by Blackbear, a popular musician whose songs correlate heavily with depression, anxiety, and pain. In one lyric of the song you find “Cause I’m stressed and depressed, I dress to impress, Yeah my body’s alright, but yeah my mind is a mess”, and in a later lyric, “I don't even f*****g care though, I'm probably gonna die, like everybody else, is that such a f*****g lie?” Those who listen to these songs will start to take on this “i don’t care” mentality as they force themselves to believe that no one cares about them, so why should they care? However, this is a self-destructive mindset that promotes methods of self-hurt as an easy answer to end all pain.
Although these harmful mental health stigmas are not what the media intended to encourage, that is exactly the problem. People can unintentionally spread harmful mindsets on mental health as they publicize false notions on how to treat your mental health or those that have mental health. So by portraying mental health illness in media for the sole purpose of melodrama or artistic meaning, we create an fortuitous environment that unintentionally promotes depression and suicide. And if I was to wrap this up and tie it with a bow, you are not as alone as the media portrays you to be and the pain will end. Please, talk to your family, friends or professionals. Help will always be out there.