Mental
health is one of those taboo subjects that nobody really feels comfortable
talking about. It is heavily misunderstood by the general population and there
is a massive stigma attached to having any kind of mental health problem –
“you’re crazy”, “you’re an attention seeker” and “you need locking away”. The
startling fact is that 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health
problem in the course of a year, so why on Earth should this be a subject we
all try so hard to avoid?
The internet
is like Satan in a Sunday hat when it comes to people diagnosing themselves
with all kinds of disorders and diseases. One swift Google search of a few
symptoms can escalate from something as simple as being a little overtired to
full-blown mental health disorders. Believe it or not, you simply cannot trust
everything that is posted online. I personally would discourage anybody from
turning to the internet for any kind of health advice; go straight to your GP and
get a professional opinion from a living, breathing expert.
It is also
frightening how readily available content like pro-anorexia websites and
explicit images of self injury are for anyone who looks for them. Is this the
kind of thing we should be exposing ourselves to? What about our children, or
younger siblings and friends who are so easily impressionable? Is it really any
wonder that depression in young people is on the rise, when they are bombarded
with ideas like you have to be skinny to be happy?
On my
travels of the World Wide Web, I have noticed an abundance of Twitter accounts
and Tumblr blogs that advertise depression, self harm, eating disorders etc as
being qualities that make you “mysterious” and, perhaps most ludicrously of
all, “cute” or even somehow more attractive to the opposite sex. “Boys think
that sad girls are cute.” At this point, I have to stop and take a few breaths –
how have disorders such as severe clinical depression become a characteristic
that people now want to adopt?
I don’t know
who thought it was a good idea to romanticise and glamourise these health
issues, as now we have more people than ever who think that being a bit upset
sometimes classifies them as clinically depressed. Mental health is a sensitive
subject and each case is highly subjective – one person’s symptoms will vary to
another’s. But if you truly think you are suffering with a disorder then why
are you sitting on the internet hoping people will think you are endearing? See
a doctor and get it sorted; some people spend a vast majority of their lives
battling with the diseases and disorders that a dramatic teenage girl has
potentially diagnosed herself with. It is often the people who think it is “interesting”
to pretend to have a mental health problem that cause the stigma associated
with it. How are people ever going to get to grips and understand what mental health is all about if there are people constantly making it seem fake and artificial? It truly is no wonder that people hold the prejudice that you are an attention seeker if you're depressed or if you self harm, as there are a small handful of people who parade these things in order to gain sympathy and attention.
In my opinion - and I am sure it is not my opinion alone - far more needs to be done to raise awareness for mental health. For example, UK statistics show that 400 people self harm per 100,000 population. These kinds of statistics are staggering and it is absolutely criminal that no time or money is spent rectifying the image of mental health and improving the services people have access to.
Statistics
from: http://www.mentalhealth.org
Worried about your mental health? Help is available for you:
http://www.samaritans.org 24 hour helpline - 08457 909090 (call charges apply)
http://www.childline.org.uk free helpline – 0800 1111
http://www.mind.org.uk
http://www.sane.org.uk
Worried about your mental health? Help is available for you:
http://www.samaritans.org 24 hour helpline - 08457 909090 (call charges apply)
http://www.childline.org.uk free helpline – 0800 1111
http://www.mind.org.uk
http://www.sane.org.uk
