Tabby Weir
Stories (2/0)
Living with a Mental Illness
INSTEAD of being a wave of relief, my diagnosis crushed me. I had been smacked with two hyper-stigmatised labels that I didn’t want or deserve. Medication seemed the logical route, and even though I still take it regularly, I can’t shake this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I’m not "authentically" me when I’m on them. I’m some societally subdued version of my former self. Not only have my negative emotions have been numbed by meds, my positive emotions (my crutches) too, appear to hang and exist, seeming just indifferent. The age-old adage of Jekyll and Hyde is somewhat blurred with mental illness. It isn’t a straight dichotomy, a line that says this is where my illness ends and I begin. At times it feels like you are your illness, and your illness is you. In some ways, I am unable to excuse my erratic, manic behaviour, because my illness and I (in those moments) appear as one. And it is this constant struggle to define yourself in the midst of an illness or on a shorter scale, an episode, that I have found the hardest to deal with. I myself can’t remember a time when I wasn’t anxious or worrying about what people think—but it’s a constant debate in my head as if this is just personality or illness or a mixture of both. But, one thing is for sure, that even in your darkest moments, your ingenuity and your positive moments are the authentic, true you.
By Tabby Weir5 years ago in Psyche
Social Media and Body Image
NOWADAYS it seems body measurements are integral to the Instagram algorithm. The amount of bikini-clad women that our thumbs grudgingly scroll past every day seems to only increase—and by the looks of it, it’s not likely to go down either. Body ideals have, historically, been defined by the cultural icons of the time, and how they are received within that zeitgeist. For example, at the height of her success, Marilyn Monroe (a woman who, by Instagram’s standards would be considered ‘fat’) painted the ideal feminine silhouette as one with natural curves, dimples and cellulite—a world away from the airbrushed "perfection" we are inundated with today. The rising prominence of social media "influencers" and TV shows entirely based round appearance (think Love Island, Naked Attraction, etc..) only communicates to young girls and women alike, that they are not doing enough to squeeze themselves into the constricting and hyper-feminised mould of 2019 beauty ideals. But what women need to realise is that however they present themselves, as long as they feel confident and beautiful both outside and in, they are enough. The plus size model movement is definitely a step in the right direction, a la Ashley Graham and Iskra Lawrence (the digital Monroes of this age,) but the real heroes we need right now are the ones who don’t have makeup artists on speed dial.
By Tabby Weir5 years ago in Viva