By the time you are reading this, there's a pretty good chance you heard about, if not listened to, Kanye West's rant at his recent concert. You probably also heard about his hospitalization for temporary psychosis, including delusions and paranoia. It's hard not to hear about events like this one when American society has a media that loves to exploit celebrity "melt downs," as they like to call them. But how about we refer to Kanye, and other famous celebrities' "episodes" as what they actually are: mental illness.
In any tabloid, newspaper, or entertainment network, celebrities with mental illness are overexposed and treated as "crazy" or "out of control." The same groups that abuse these celebrities' conditions are the ones that praise stars like Selena Gomez when they come out and speak about struggling with mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. What the media fails to understand is that mental illness is not a black and white issue. Mental illness affects everyone, including celebrities, in different ways, and people will react in different ways. Anxiety can be a silent person with a racing heart and thoughts who tells no one about what they are experiencing. It can also be a full-on breakdown that every person around the affected individual is aware of. Why is our society and media so obsessed with the latter that we continue to treat it like a joke, while we feel sorry for those suffering from the former?
Kanye is an entertainer. He is an artist and a designer. He is a father, and a husband, and a son. Mental illness affects all types of people. It does not discriminate. One in four adults in America suffers from mental illness. It is common, it is diagnoseable, and it is treatable. Why then, can't we treat it like any other illness?
We live in a society that wants to eliminate the stigma behind mental illness, yet we exploit anyone in the spotlight who is suffering. How are we going to help those who are suffering feel comfortable with seeking help when we mock and ridicule those like Kanye and treat their illness as a joke? While he is certainly someone who has said some outrageous things and overexposed himself in society, he is still a human who is suffering from an illness he has no control over.
When we exploit celebrities in the way we are doing now, and the way we did to Britney Spears circa 2007, we are doing nothing to end the stigma surrounding mental illness; we are just adding to it. We treat mental illness the same way we treat fashion and talent competitions: like entertainment. This needs to stop immediately.
First of all, the media needs to change the way that they report these issues, since there is a slim chance that they will stop reporting them altogether. Second, we need to alter how we speak about mental illness, and the people who suffer from it. Instead of referring to people as "crazy," "nuts," or "psycho," we need to refer to them as what they are: ill. Third, we need to offer people support, rather than fearing them or laughing at them. The only way to beat the stigma behind mental illness is to begin treating it as an actual illness, like diabetes or tonsillitis, and realize that there are ways to help those suffering. If there is anything that we can learn from Kanye West's recent struggles, it is that mental illness is not a choice, and it should not be entertaining. We need to stand behind those who are suffering. They need to know they are not alone.
