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Mental Health

And Social Media

By Panda LouisePublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Mental Health seems to be a topic that creeps up every couple of days. Be it through the medium of Facebook or a story on the news. What people don't understand is that when you suffer from it yourself, people pretending to care may make you worse.

Every now and then I go on the good old Facebook and have a scroll, and every now and then I see wonderful posts from people. "Suicide Hotline Number", "I have a shoulder if you need one", "You are not alone."

While this is all good and promising, the amount of people posting these statuses compared to the amount of people practicing what they preach is greatly uneven. But what does this mean?

Well, untrusting people with mental health issues is what it means. People who feel so alone and feel like they can reach out and talk to anyone. Only to be met with "seen" and "sry, really busi rite now".

It's hard for someone to reach out in the first place but to be met with rubbish excuses from people who just wanted to be seen as doing a nice thing, but not actually putting in the effort can damage a person even further.

Since the beginning of social media it is now even easier to put out a projection of who you want to be rather than who you are. People are Instagramming pictures of healthy smoothies and running shoes but behind their screens, they're binging Netflix and eating 7 day old crackers from the back of their cupboards. People are spending too much time taking photos of the scenery for the "gram" instead of actually looking at it.

And people with mental health issues are held up in their beds, looking at all these wonderful things they're missing out on. How Emma traveled all the way to India on her own and has seen so many sights, while Amy is sat at home, in a blanket fort. Wondering why she is so broken.

People are leaving horrible nasty comments on peoples' posts and photos. A girl with an eating disorder posted a picture of herself. "You're so beautiful babe", "You look gorgeous." She's sat their telling herself she's fat and she needs to stop eating to make herself thin and people are telling her that she's healthy and gorgeous and the fact that they can see all of her bones is a good thing! People are being fat shamed. Fat people are posting that guys like girls with a little something to hold onto. That only dogs go for bones? Since when has it been ok for people to think fat girls are great but skinny girls are disgusting? We've gotten so used to the whole "fat shaming" that it is now acceptable for a girl that is size 6/8 to be disgusting and boney and no one will want her. That in the same breath, you're not allowed to bad mouth a chubbier girl but that chubbier girl can rip into a skinnier girl and if she dare fight back? Well, that's fat shaming.

Social Media is something that we've grown to love. Something we cannot possibly live without. We live in an age where someone can post a "feeling sad" status and has around 10-12 comments of people pretending to care.

"What's up babes?"

"I'm here for you"

"Inbox me xoxo"

And when you tell them? Or inbox them? Cold shoulders. People judging you from behind their screens whilst their not-so-perfect life unfolds before them.

Social Media makes mental health worse. There must be some links to prove since the rising of Social Media, so has mental health has risen as well.

I implore you, to at least once a day, look up from your phone and take a look at the beautiful world around you.

humanity
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About the Creator

Panda Louise

23 year old struggling to deal with mental and physical health issues.

All about the Witchy/Pagan life

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