Mental health problems are a common occurrence in people of all ages. Some often find themselves experiencing bottled-up emotions, anxiety, depression, and other issues. We have formed a culture around bringing awareness to mental health issues, which is great, but could we be over-hyping mental health awareness?
It is common to see people talking about their mental health on social media, usually as a way to vent or let their followers know how they are doing. These people may say that they have mental disorders, and there are campaigns designed to help people like them identify and form an understanding of their symptoms.
However, while these campaigns may be helpful to some, they can harm others. According to a New York Times article titled “Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?” by Ellen Barry, people who hear others talking about their serious mental health symptoms may start to over-interpret their mental health, causing them to falsely self-diagnose themselves with a disorder. Self-diagnosing oneself with a disorder is harmful because once a person is convinced they have a disorder, they might develop that disorder, according to a StatNews article titled “What If We’re Talking About Teens’ Mental Health Too Much?” by Lucy Foulkes. For example, if someone self-diagnoses themself with anxiety, they may actually develop it, causing drastic effects on their life.
While mental health campaigns have encouraged people to seek help, there is evidence that suggests these campaigns might also be worsening people’s mental health, according to a Clinical Trials Arena article titled “Is Raising Mental Health Awareness Causing More Harm Than Good?” Social media leads to social comparison, in which a person fosters unrealistic expectations and comparisons based on what they see from other people. This idea implies that social media may cause someone to doubt the seriousness of their disorder. If someone hears another person describing their mental state in a way that implies it may be serious, but feel like they aren’t experiencing that level of “seriousness” themselves, they may start to doubt their perceptions or the fact that they even have a disorder in the first place.
Additionally, talking about mental health too much may worsen the already existing stigma around mental health. Some already have trouble speaking about their mental health due to the fear that they may be judged, according to an article from the American Psychiatric Association titled “Stigma, Prejudice, and Discrimination Against People with Mental Illness.” Excessively advocating mental health awareness may cause people who are suffering to be judged even more, as they seem dramatic about their problems.
We must find an efficient way to encourage those who are suffering to get help without creating any unintended consequences.