By Cherysh Madeira
“I’m so depressed! social-awk. all kinds of awk! PITY ME!! :’(“ Maybe the “PITY ME” isn’t really there but it’s heavily implied. There are hundreds of thousands of descriptions like this that I see when scrolling for a new blog to follow on Tumblr or for a new channel to subscribe to on Youtube. A huge majority of teenagers and pre-teens don’t even show, let alone know, the signs of depression. It’s kids like that, the ones who romanticize depression and make it into some social trend, are the reason that people who actually have depression feel like they should keep it to themselves. Well breaking news kids, no one is going to save you from your fake depression.
Nothing can really make up for the fact that those people are making life just a bit worse for the people are truly suffering. There are even people who cut, actually slashing and cutting themselves just to fit into the ‘depression trend.’ When asked why they do it, they simply say because they can. No one is benefiting from this. No one benefits from thinking of the mental illness as a reason to pity someone, as a reason to find it somehow romantic because “that’s what they do in that one movie,” and absolutely no one gets anything good out of people who fake depression because it’s something you can have to fit into the new norm.
Depression isn’t a social fashion or trend. It’s not a new hit single you hear on the radio and think “oh this is going to become a thing so I might as well jump on the bandwagon.” It’s a real mental illness and should be treated like one. It deserves real treatment and real attention not just a pat on the back and a “it’ll get better.”
Say someone had a friend who was showing signs of depression but they couldn’t recognize it so they could get their friend help because they learned from people who romanticize depression that the signs are constantly being shoved in your face in a way that makes it completely obvious and that the signs are the person outright saying they’re depressed and showing you the cuts they’ve made and explaining in detail what had brought them to that point. In reality it’s almost the exact opposite. It’s not something to be proud of. It’s usually kept as a secret.
Rather than trying to emulate those who have this disease you should help them. There are websites that can teach you what depression really is, its signs, and how to properly help and comfort someone who suffers from depression; it’s called suicide.org. You can call in the Hawai’i suicide and depression hotline, or at least give that the person so they can seek out help, (808)-832-3100.
Photo Courtesy of: thefeministwire.com
“I’m so depressed! social-awk. all kinds of awk! PITY ME!! :’(“ Maybe the “PITY ME” isn’t really there but it’s heavily implied. There are hundreds of thousands of descriptions like this that I see when scrolling for a new blog to follow on Tumblr or for a new channel to subscribe to on Youtube. A huge majority of teenagers and pre-teens don’t even show, let alone know, the signs of depression. It’s kids like that, the ones who romanticize depression and make it into some social trend, are the reason that people who actually have depression feel like they should keep it to themselves. Well breaking news kids, no one is going to save you from your fake depression.
Nothing can really make up for the fact that those people are making life just a bit worse for the people are truly suffering. There are even people who cut, actually slashing and cutting themselves just to fit into the ‘depression trend.’ When asked why they do it, they simply say because they can. No one is benefiting from this. No one benefits from thinking of the mental illness as a reason to pity someone, as a reason to find it somehow romantic because “that’s what they do in that one movie,” and absolutely no one gets anything good out of people who fake depression because it’s something you can have to fit into the new norm.
Depression isn’t a social fashion or trend. It’s not a new hit single you hear on the radio and think “oh this is going to become a thing so I might as well jump on the bandwagon.” It’s a real mental illness and should be treated like one. It deserves real treatment and real attention not just a pat on the back and a “it’ll get better.”
Say someone had a friend who was showing signs of depression but they couldn’t recognize it so they could get their friend help because they learned from people who romanticize depression that the signs are constantly being shoved in your face in a way that makes it completely obvious and that the signs are the person outright saying they’re depressed and showing you the cuts they’ve made and explaining in detail what had brought them to that point. In reality it’s almost the exact opposite. It’s not something to be proud of. It’s usually kept as a secret.
Rather than trying to emulate those who have this disease you should help them. There are websites that can teach you what depression really is, its signs, and how to properly help and comfort someone who suffers from depression; it’s called suicide.org. You can call in the Hawai’i suicide and depression hotline, or at least give that the person so they can seek out help, (808)-832-3100.
Photo Courtesy of: thefeministwire.com