The Romanticization of Mental Illness in the Media

by Carina C

The misrepresentation of mental illness in the media dates back many years. It has been negatively romanticized in recent years. The media has often been guilty of portraying a mental illness as desirable, or falsely representing the effects mental health has on  people. This is severely harmful to people with mental illnesses and to those who are absorbing misinformation presented by the media, especially  for teenagers and young adults. 

A great example of mental illness being romanticized, especially through social media, is the 2003 film Thirteen. This film is about a thirteen-year-old girl named Tracy who gets involved in sex, substance abuse, crime, and develops mental health struggles. Over the past few years, people on social media have made these experiences seem aesthetic and desirable; people will idolize the main character, try to act and dress like her, or even imitate things she does. This is detrimental because it makes mental illness and dangerous behaviors seem cool and trendy, without showing the long-term effects of such actions, or how harmful and difficult to go through with life they are. It also invalidates those who are diagnosed with mental illnesses, and spreads misinformation about them.

Another example of a mental illness being romanticized is the book All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. (Before you continue reading, please know there will be spoilers throughout the rest of this section! Also, in the scope of discussion for this article, I would be including the book only.) This book is about two teenagers, Finch and Violet, who bond over their grief and mental health struggles. Finch especially struggles with mental illness and commits suicide in the end. Some people, myself included, believe mental illness was misrepresented and romanticized in this story. Despite mental health struggles being such an important part of the plot, they usually end up being glorified or quickly lead to another part of the story. At times it seems like mental illness is only used to help the plot progress. For example, Finch’s death seems glossed over, despite suicide being the reason Finch and Violet met. Instead, the adventure Finch sends Violet on before his death is portrayed as more important and shown more than his actual death. Showing the cool, mysterious, and fun adventure more than the main character’s suicide, even after mental illness is such a huge theme in the story, feels wrong. This book also misrepresents mental illness, failing to show what it can really be like at times and making it seem mysterious and whimsical

Unfortunately, the romanticization of mental illness typically affects teenagers and young adults the most. Many films and books that romanticize mental illness, define teenagers and young adults as their target demographics – as readers, or as central characters in such stories. This causes many people in this age group to not understand what mental health struggles can really be like, and makes mental illness seem trendy, cool, or even fun. Additionally, social media romanticizing mental illness also affects this group. When social media makes mental illness seem cool and trendy, it often affects how people view it.

All in all, mental illness is still being heavily misrepresented through romanticization in the media. Both creators and social media users are at fault, even if it’s unintentional. So, I hope after reading this you can avoid contributing to the romanticization of mental illness and making bad decisions due to it.

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References

• Gesick, Greta. “Do We Romanticize Mental Illness?” RedHawks Online, 30 May 2023, redhawksonline.com/2023/05/30/do-we-romanticize-mental-illness/. Accessed Apr. 2024.

• Townsend, Alex. “Review: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.” Disability in Kidlit, 16 Jan. 2015, http://disabilityinkidlit.com/2015/01/16/alex-townsend-reviews-all-the-bright-places/#comments. Accessed Apr. 2024.

• Niven, Jennifer. All the Bright Places. New York, Ny, Random House Children’s Books, 6 Jan. 2015.

• Hardwicke, Catherine. Thirteen. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2003.