GenZ is known to be one of the first generations in a while to speak openly about mental health and normalize sadness. We got used to feeling stressed about school or tired because we sleep less but is it actually normal?
Of course it is, a teenager especially goes through a lot of emotions every single day, but feeling sad and being depressed are two completely different things. You should take care of yourself and if you feel like you need help from anyone just ask, it could turn out in your own benefit.
Also, social media campaigns are also encouraging people to open up about their mental health. Everyone started to slowly be public about feeling stressed or sad in order to make these struggles relatable, even celebrities started talking more about how overwhelming their careers can be to give us a real view of how it’s like to be in their shoes. In our haste, though, we might've forgotten the fundamental and vital distinction between sad feels and the terms used to diagnose mental disorders, like anxiety and depression.
"People label their sadness as depression and their nervousness as anxiety when the problems that they're facing often don't reflect those psychological problems. If healthy people are convinced that they're depressed, they ultimately identify with the glamorized social media posts, aggravating the phenomenon even more," Jinan Jennifer Jadayel, a graduate student from the International School in Lebanon that tracked social media posts about mental health. Being realistic about how you really feel became a trend and some people are using that just to fit in online. The trendiness of sad online culture may lead to wrongful self-diagnoses and an inadvertent trivialization of serious illnesses.
Becoming a trend, mental health lost it true meaning and people seem to forget that only a specialist can diagnose diseases like anxiety or depression. This should not be something to seek for one’s attention or use to be “cool” like the others. Mental health is a real problem for many people and complaining all day about feeling stressed or tired can never make you feel any better. For a start, let’s all try to be more positive and appreciate little things around us than getting stuck in a world full of hate and fake emotions.
Comentários