Anxiety and depression seem to be in vogue. Panic attacks are being discussed on social media. It is more acceptable to talk about feeling blue and being stressed day in and day out about school, work and relationships. It would be wrong these discussions normalized, but it's increasingly difficult to think of them as stigmatized.
A face of these illnesses is emerging-- and it is pretty girls. Just recently, Amber Smith, a 22 year old British woman, posted selfies pre- and post- panic attack on her Facebook page. There are also an increasing number of "self love" posts, encouraging sipping tea, doing yoga, and thinking happy thoughts to overcome these problems. I cannot help but think these trends and well-meaning suggestions are doing more harm than good.
Don't get me wrong-- anxiety and depression are completely valid disorders and are worthy of support. However, these illnesses are pretty easy to talk about-- they're a mess, but coming from attractive, otherwise put together people, they become easy to discuss. If you advocate for these mental disorders, but not others, you are doing a tremendous disservice to the advancement of mental health.
If you support and call for action for anxiety and depression, you need to advocate for the man with voices in his head that torment him every waking moment of every day. You need to advocate for the girl who believes she is so worthy of punishment that she slashes her arms with razorblades and burns her thighs with cigarette lighters. You need to advocate for the boy who looks in the mirror and is so disassociated with reality that he doesn't even recognize what is looking back at him. You need to advocate for the man who numbs his mental anguish with drugs, and he just overdosed for the third time this year. You need to advocate for the woman with agoraphobia so severe that she cannot even go buy groceries, so she sits at home hungry instead.
These people need our advocacy just as much. They do not just need social media support and a pat on the back. They do not just need self-help guides and encouragement for happy thoughts. They need clean and effective care facilities, affordable medication, and genuine, personal support...something beyond a computer screen.
Most mental disorders are uncomfortable to watch and hard to understand, which is way they do not receive the recognition they need. Please, continue to advocate for those who suffer from anxiety and depression, but do not leave everyone else suffering behind just because it isn't as popular. These populations need more help than you think. Do not just use the beautifully tragic cases to look like a progressive and sympathetic individual.
If you are calling yourself a mental health advocate, you need to embrace all of its parts. If you choose not to, then please, I beg you, do not claim advocacy. You, without even recognizing it, are moving mental health reform backwards, making it harder for the public to accept mental healthcare and all of its components. Though we do not talk about it, we walk among those who need this support every day. These diseases can (and often do) leave individuals alone, homeless, or dead, and it was all completely preventable with comprehensive care and an understanding environment. Do not let them down.
Visit http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/to learn about the mental health crisis and what you can do to help.
