When it comes to popular social media apps such as Instagram, TikTok, or Tumblr, mental health illnesses are often seen to be discussed lightly, whether in the form of short videos, memes, or images. One may say that this has helped in normalizing the topic and initiating the discourse around it, which was indeed the primary intention of this trend. But over time, we have noticed an increase in the portrayal of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, OCD, or self-harm as “trendy”, “cool” or “romantic.” This has led to the misrepresentation of mental illnesses, which has often resulted in mitigating their severity. Depression is not just having a sad mood, anxiety is not the same as nervousness, and OCD is not the same as perfectionism. They are much more than these fleeting moments and require professional help.
What is even more disturbing is that there are channels and pages on social media that promote eating disorders and self-harm. People use hashtags such as Ana, Mia, and ed, which are abbreviations of Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and eating disorders, to upload posts that promote dangerous behaviors. A simple search on Tumblr with #ana will lead you to several posts talking about eating disorders, often in a very unhealthy manner. “Thinspo”, which means “thin inspiration”, is a recent trend on social media to promote unhealthy eating habits to be skinnier. The goal is to lose weight and have a “prettier” body type. The craze for a thigh gap, protruding collar bones, sharp jaw lines, and thin waist as promoted on social media often leads to severe eating disorders, especially among young girls, by setting unrealistically high standards of beauty. These social media posts not only show a romantic version of eating disorders but also provide steps to develop such disorders as if having them would help one become what is considered conventionally beautiful.
Images circulated in social media about mental health are often very aesthetically pleasing. One might look at these images and say they are artistic or poetic, but the truth is they only serve as distorters to the actual face of the illness. The use of filters, mood boards, poetic lines, and memes reduces the shock effect and almost makes the illness look elegant or attractive. Very often, on social media, self-harm is portrayed as something that is “tragically beautiful” or shown in a very romantic light, when the truth is that self-injury is a result of strong emotional pain. It is as damaging to call self-harm beautiful and artistic, as it is to call it crazy or lunatic. It is a matter of serious concern that requires professional treatment.
