Mental illness doesn’t have a face, gender, race, age, or tax bracket. Mental illness doesn’t discriminate. But it does include 3 of the most significant factors that make up who we are as individuals: our emotional, psychological, and social well being. Just the word mental illness makes a lot of people uncomfortable. My generation didn’t talk about it; it was put quietly in a dark closet, so no one else knew. Things are different today; we are getting more comfortable with saying we aren’t ok, and we’re more accepting of others when they are struggling. An unfortunate event this past week really got me thinking about mental illness and social media's impact on it.
The other night Lauren and I watched a heartbreaking event unfold on social media over the course of about 15 hours. That’s not exactly accurate because the waves are still rippling outward from it two days later. It started with a text message alert from the educational institution she attends, that students were to avoid a specific building due to a public safety emergency. My first thought was it was being shut down due to COVID. Over the course of the next hour and a half social media blew up with several different stories about what was happening. The next text alert had a bit more information confirming part of the rumors. Social media was on fire; posts were being taken down about the situation but not before they could be screenshotted and shared by hundreds.
We went to bed that night with our minds and hearts on what was happening less than a mile from our home. Information was curated from several social media platforms and shared in a private group message I had going with some close friends. We discussed the situation there, privately, sharing what we had read with each other, knowing that everything was speculation.
The next morning we learned through a press statement from the head of the institution that the situation had ended, heartbreakingly with someone taking their own life. Even though I didn’t know this person, my world stopped for a minute. I began reflecting on the evening before when all the different rumors were making their war around social media. Then I got mad.
I know that as empathetic humans, we are drawn to situations like this, but the wildfire of destruction that the social media grapevine spreads is just sickening. This person’s loved ones could have seen those posts as it was unfolding. Some of them weren’t accurate. Social media has created a society of people who share or retweet without thinking about the ramifications of how it may affect someone else. Maybe these people should instead be thinking, how can I make a difference in someone’s life today.
We are addicted to social media. Lauren told me the next morning that she stayed up late; she couldn’t sleep because she kept refreshing social media for news of what was happening because one of the names being thrown around was someone she knew.
This year has been filled with unimaginable hurdles, and it feels like it is far from over. These hurdles have magnified our mental health struggles. I don’t know a single person that COVID hasn’t affected in some way or another. And here we are now with the holidays upon us. Many of us will be eating Thanksgiving dinner without our extended family. People are still out of work - don’t get me started on the people complaining about lazy people collecting unemployment. Our country has never been more divided, especially since the election. Social media has added fuel to the fire of each of these things. It’s almost time to start thinking about new year’s resolutions. How about making an effort to be conscious of the things we share on social media, find a little bit of positivity in each day, and share it.
1-800-273-8255
1-800-799-7233
Emotional Wellbeing During Covid (tons of useful links)
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