There is an ongoing trend in society, and that is this theme of hiding who you are in order to appear normal and to be accepted. And although we have come along way over decades and centuries of discrimination and prejudice - learning to see our differences, not as flaws but as positive attributes - we still have not come far enough.
When I saw this video by JacksGap, it struck a chord with me.
There have been an increasing amount of stories in the media - tragedies - of people hurting themselves and hurting one another in order to deal with their emotions. People resorting to violence and suicide. People drowning in grief and pain, and seeing no other way out than to make everything stop.
I recently noticed that a couple of other YouTubers have begun speaking up about this issue of Mental Health. They have created and promoted videos on their channels, admitting to having anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, and confirming that even the most public figures get upset and break down. And that this is okay. It’s not something to hide, but something to embrace and talk openly about.
Society has placed this idea that the best of us are the ones who never break down, never get upset, and always have a plan of action and a solution. Essentially people who have their shit together all the damn time. And we glorify these people. But the thing is these people don’t really exist. Not truly. That’s just what we see on the surface.
Everyone gets upset. We are social and emotional beings, meant to feel and care deeply. We get upset when we care about something and our natural instinct is to share with one another..
And so the problem with glorifying this idea of someone who never breaks down, or gets upset, is that it makes anyone, who feels like they can’t meet this standard, want to hide away any signs of pain, struggle or inner turmoil in order to feel normal and be accepted.
But hiding who you are and how you feel has a price. There are life or death consequences and social repercussions. When you bury so much feeling and emotions inside, you create this pressure to be perfect. That pressure eventually builds up and requires an outlet.
This video presents a challenge to open up a discussion on mental health and the stigma surrounding it, in hopes of creating awareness.
“Mental Health Disabilities are an illness not a weakness. They are an issue, not an identify. It is okay to be suffering from a mental illness but its not okay to not talk about it. Because then we achieve nothing.”