Society is desperately clinging on to the umbrella term of ‘depression.’
This umbrella is useless. If anything, it does more harm than it does good- like enduring a night of shots and clubbing- fun at the time but the next day it leaves you confused and seeing the world in an unnaturally distorted way.
If you are a more developed member of the real world and have wrapped your head around the very real notion that mental health is just as potent as physical health and yes, mental illness is not just one disease people suffer from, then perhaps now you should study the umbrella a little more closely. Why you are even using it if your arms are tired and you’re getting wet anyway?
Depression doesn’t exist. However, SAD (seasonal affective disorder); chronic depression (also known as dysthymia); prenatal depression and post-natal depression are just some examples of what do. These are only a few of the illnesses shoved under the umbrella- creating a distorted view in society that there is only one ‘depression’- one set of symptoms and one treatment method.
Another key element society often fails to appreciate is the fact that ‘depression’ can and commonly exists alone aside from self-harm, suicide or other mental illnesses such as anxiety and eating disorders. This is repeatedly contradicted by the presentation in the media, thus creating this distorted and inaccurate view of what depression and mental illness really is to society. Popular TV characters playing the part of someone suffering from depression (such as ‘Hannah Baker’ from ‘13 Reasons Why’ and ‘Pete’ from ‘Cold Feet’) are also almost always presented as suicidal when the fact is -according to a study by the Mayo Clinic- only 2-9 percent of people diagnosed with depression commit suicide. This conveys the wrong message about the links between suicide and depression and often creates a cliched picture of the illness, not showing the true hardship it imposes.
Social media like Instagram and Tumblr reinforce this romanticized depiction of depression. Quotes describing ‘depression’ use the caricature of ‘her’- the beautiful mysterious girl who suffers in silence with her illness. Captions repeatedly describe the idea of ‘kissing her scars’. Not only does this yet again present the idea to society that one who self-harms has depression and one who has depression self-harms but also creates a romanticised image of depression which in no way encapsulates the true essence of this crippling illness.
So, if depression isn’t just one illness; its involvement in self harm and suicide varies and the media is inaccurate in is representation of it… how is society meant to understand an illness nearly 1 in 5 adults suffer from? Step out from the shelter and safety of the umbrella, it was clouding your vision anyway.
Noa Holt, JCoSS
