The topic I'm gonna talk about today can seem very light but trust me it's an important one.!😃
Hey guys.!!
I'm back with my first post of 2021. I know, it's a bit late but then again, to write something good you need to be in your proper productive mind. So yeah, here I am, with my new post about an interesting and very new topic. This post is not an educational write up, like we don't study or write these stuff in our classrooms and exams. But in my opinion, it's a growing issue.
Defining Mental Heath:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community." Having issues in the significant areas of life due to disrupted mental health leads to mental illness. These significant areas include, our daily life, personal life, social life (both online and offline) and occupational life.
What are memes?
A meme is an idea, a concept which is funny that becomes a trend and spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture. Memes often represents symbolic meaning of a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme is a concept with creative contents that spreads from person to person, including beliefs, fashions, stories, and phrases. In previous generations, memes typically spread within local cultures or social groups but in new age social media does the job of spreading pretty well. Nowadays, people almost instinctively share funny images, GIFs, and short videos, especially when they include some culturally relevant caption and content.
How memes are affecting mental health?
Honestly, memes spread laughs and fun. And it's supposed to do that only. But nowadays, I'm seeing memes regarding mental health or mental illness spreading so much, which are not at all funny in the deeper sense. Okay! I understand the fact, that we have a tendency to laugh about and at things in a very casual manner. But when those 'laughs' are pointing out something which can be perceived hurtful, then it does not serve it's purpose. Memes always talk about the current topic going on in the world. Doing that, they sometimes make fun of fat people, like body shaming people or making fun of people with color and also they make fun of particular cultures. What we need to understand that, there is a thin line difference between humor and humiliation. When it reaches to the threshold of humiliation then it affects our mental health. Consciously or unconsciously we tend to adapt the things we see in the memes. We might think, we're just laughing it off but these things stay with us or turns into our behavior without any notice. We pick up the meme lingo, behaviors of the characters and it then invades with our personality.
Again, when a meme is talking about depression or anxiety as a mental illness and spreading awareness, then it's okay and accepted. But in some memes, these mental illnesses are being joked. Making fun of a mental health issue and laughing at someone with a mental health issue is not at all cool. You can have a different opinion but trust me, mental health is already stigmatized so much that we don't want anything more to make fun of it. Making fun of people with mental health issues or making fun of who are suffering from mental illnesses can never be okay or accepted. But, our society is all okay with accepting such things because society do not believe that mental health issues exists..!!
Tell me one thing, Have you ever seen anyone making fun of people having cancer or any other physical illness? No.! I know.! Exactly this way, no one should make fun of people having mental illness, or even having just a mental break down. We are human beings, we can't stay strong all the time and we also need some space to break and make ourselves. Making fun of people having mental health issues even in a generic way is not okay at all. Laughing at them for canceling plans or not having 'enough fun' in life, actually shows how unempathetic of people who do so.
I would like you to think about those people who suffer from mental illnesses and when they see memes which are making fun of the very symptoms they are experiencing it does not do any good, rather makes them feel worse. When someone is suffering from an issue we need to understand that they can get offended if made fun of. So, it is possible that the meme unknowingly being hurtful to some people. I'm not going against memes, it's just we can be more thoughtful about what we're sharing and showing the world.
We should remember we all are human beings and everyday is not same. So being a little kind to ourselves and others won't do any harm. There is nothing wrong in enjoying memes or laughing with the memes. In my opinion we should be a little mindful.
Thank You for reading.. Please stay tuned and follow 'Talking Psychology'.
I'll see you in my next post..
~ Angira Gupta
Comments
Post a Comment