Tragic Yet Beautiful: A False Narrative

One trip down the deep rabbit hole of Instagram and you are bound to come across a sensational quote typed out in a pretty font and placed against a beautiful background. You expect something cheesy and inspiring: something about pursuing dreams and never giving up. However, at a closer glance, you realize what it is truly about: glamorized descriptions of all kinds of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. These complicated conditions are portrayed as simple and beautiful, when in reality they are the opposite. This is only one example of what the glorification of mental illness looks like, and it doesn’t just stop there. In books we read and TV shows we watch, mental conditions seem like a quirky personality trait. Being depressed is seen as ‘edgy’ and trust issues make you ‘mysterious’. Just decades ago, psychological conditions used to be stigmatized topics that no one used to speak of. Now, in an era of social progressiveness, mental illness is no longer condemned but instead desired by certain individuals. Society has taken two steps forward but one step back regarding mental health, and if this problem is not addressed soon enough, the romanticization of mental illness could ruin the progress we’ve made. 

This glorification began in the rise of neurodivergent characters within the media, meaning characters who have a brain that functions differently from what society deems to be “normal”. Authors and producers often used mental illnesses as a way to add dimensionality and realism to their characters. It became an easy way to create internal conflict and make the character appear more interesting. Furthermore, due to a wave of de-stigmatization, creators felt the pressure to include neurodivergent characters in the name of representation and diversity. Combined with a profit incentive to produce relatable content that suits millennial culture, more and more main characters now have tragic backstories and complicated mental conditions. 

While this may seem like a good effort to raise awareness and abolish stereotypes, it results in inaccurate descriptions and perpetuates a whole new set of assumptions. To begin, most creators haven’t dealt with mental illnesses before and therefore have trouble writing neurodivergent characters. As they don’t know what mental illnesses are like, they can only base their characters on stereotypes and other societal narratives, which often do not depict the reality of the situation. Furthermore, screen time is often precious and saved for key aspects of the plot. Unless mental health is the focus of the book or movie, it is unlikely to be given enough focus to be fully fleshed out. Complicated conditions are simplified to fit the story and characters will only be struggling with their mental health for a short period of time before being magically “cured” in the next episode/chapter, which isn’t accurate of the real life recovery process. Even in cases where the theme is mental health, it is very difficult to capture perplexing feelings through words or scenes. These factors lead to an unrealistic representation of mental illness within the media, which often lessens the appearance severity of psychological conditions. For instance, many young adult books begin with a neurodiverse main character who suffers from depression. Throughout the next few chapters, the main character falls in love and finds the perfect partner who gives them a shoulder to cry on. Immediately after, they show no signs of their mental illness and the couple live happily ever after. These cliche plots paint psychological conditions as something that can be cured quickly and easily through friendship and love. The false narratives make it easier to romanticize mental illness, as people aren’t aware of the harms it can have on individuals’ lives. 

Moreover, mental health conditions are often depicted as a personality trait or quirk of the character, rather than something that needs to be treated . Serious conditions, such as anorexia or depression, are sometimes described as mystical and edgy within the story. Furthermore, these traits are what separates the main character from others, and therefore seen as a unique or special differentiator. For instance, Kaz Brekker in the Six of Crows Duology suffers from severe PTSD and has trouble maintaining physical contact. The author uses his mental illness to paint him as a mysterious badass, rather than demonstrating the vast effects of his illness. Ultimately, psychological conditions are addressed with a positive connotation within the media, which not only lightens the issue, but makes it seem appealing towards the audience. Additionally, main characters of popular series often become role models of their fanbase. Thus, readers have an innate desire to become more like their favourite characters, wanting both the good and bad qualities the character possesses. If that character has a mental illness, the readers are likely to glorify it internally as well. 

Overall, the romanticization of mental illnesses is the unintended consequence of our attempt to de-stigmatize and increase representation of neurodivergent individuals. It has led to an increase of fictional characters with mental illnesses within popular media, which then resulted in the simplification and glorification of mental illness. This destructive narrative increases the chances of victims staying silent because they see it as a part of their personality or believe that it makes them strong when they suffer alone. It could also spark a sense of guilt if individuals have been suffering for a long time but it is portrayed as something easily curable, which then worsens their mental health. Furthermore, this narrative fools people, especially teenagers, into believing mental illnesses are good and special, and encourages self-diagnosis and false claims about labelling sadness as depression. This is extremely detrimental, as it drowns out legitimate claims and prevents society from putting their attention on those who actually need help. While proper representation and discourse is always a step in the right direction, the romanticization of mental illnesses is a catastrophic problem that will only lead to more unnecessary pain.