How Social Media Glorifies Mental Illness

While I was researching this topic, it was very hard for me to do. I came across countless stories of depression, paranoia, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. I was never exposed to mental illness at such a high level before. The method to which these teenagers use to "validate" their mental illness really make me question our society. It makes me question how teens do not feel comfortable in their environment to be able to speak out about their mental issue, but rather to converse with others like them through social media. The "Sues and Dallas'" would write angel on their wrists. They acted as if being suicidal was a positive thing. "In our eyes, everyone who commits suicide becomes an angel. If your whole life was spent in hell, you belong in heaven. We envy those girls for having the courage to do what we all want to do, but we also respect them for bearing so many years before ending it all." This is an anonymous quote from a "Sue". They envy those who dare end their own life. How can one be helped if they believe themselves, that they should not be helped? Social media has exposed them to others like them provoking them to glorify suicide.

I wanted to create an infographic that was simple to the eye. I didn't want to create anything too crowded or superfluous in any way. The font I use for the title of the infographic was large and bold to convey what the infographic is about and what the viewer is going to get into. The font I used for the sub-boxes is meant to be seen but not overpowering. I only used one shape that I thought resembled the "account" icon for social media. I put it in red because red resembles a deep connection to being struck with depression and mental illness, at least in my opinion. The shape was meant to be simple but portray a deeper meaning that has to do with the topic of the infographic. I felt like creating an infographic is a great way to make people more aware. It is very aesthetically pleasing when created with simplicity which will intrigue the viewer. It was enjoyable trying to make my infographic, although it was very uncomfortable for me when I was researching my topic.

Overall, I feel as if we should create a society to comfort these mentally ill young adults. The country must be an environment where teens with mental issues do not need to hide and feel as if they must end their life because of how terrible they feel.




How Social Media Glorifies Mental Illness by Brennan Shin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.