what is the hardest mental illness to have
Earlier she passed away in 2016, actor, author and advocate Carrie Fisher wrote a column for The Guardian answering a reader's question about living with bipolar disorder. Fisher, who received her bipolar diagnosis at 24 merely didn't really have said diagnosis until 4 years later, had spoken openly most her mental illness for decades. For a while, that was something of a rarity in Hollywood, and there's no doubtfulness Fisher, known about widely for playing Leia Organa in the Star Wars franchise, did her function to undo the stigma surrounding mental illness.
"We accept been given a challenging illness, and there is no other option than to see those challenges," Fisher wrote in response to the reader'due south question. "Call back of it every bit an opportunity to exist heroic… an emotional survival. An opportunity to be a good example to others who might share our disorder." Fisher went on to say that the reader was lucky to take been diagnosed — and accepting of that diagnosis — at such a young age, which stands in stark contrast to the ways the media often covers mental disease and disorder diagnoses.
"I am mentally sick. I tin say that. I am non ashamed of that," Fisher said in an interview with ABC. "I survived that, I'm all the same surviving it, but bring it on. Improve me than you." For her work on ending mental health discrimination — and for her tireless efforts to combat stigma — the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) honored Fisher with a prestigious award in 2001. Later on, Fisher received some other honour for her contributions and outspokenness, this time from Harvard College. "Many people give thanks me for talking almost it," Fisher told The Harvard Gazette, "and mothers can tell their kids when they are upset with the diagnosis that Princess Leia is bipolar, too."
But non all public figures feel comfortable existence outspoken like Fisher . That's largely due to how they're treated in the media — and because, despite advocates' all-time efforts, stigma persists. When information technology comes to celebrities and mental affliction, things can get complicated, to say the least. For instance, before learning near Kanye West'southward bipolar disorder diagnosis, fans and critics alike found the rapper's public persona to be a course of entertainment — something that made for a viral soundbite or meme. Yet, West has been open near his diagnosis for quite some time at present; what the public once idea were amusing statements are now bandage in a unlike light.
On ane hand, we need to stop laughing at mental illness — we need to end making manic episodes into something viral or meme-worthy. On the other hand, celebrities have immense platforms and, with those platforms, there comes a certain amount of responsibility. That is, mental illness isn't an excuse for abusing i's reach, privilege or platform, but it is "a reason" (via WBUR) — one that we must discuss with more than nuance and consideration than a Tweet tin hold.
Editor's Notation: This article contains mentions of diverse mental illnesses and mental wellness disorders as well as discussions of how some of these illnesses and disorders are portrayed in media coverage surrounding public figures. It'south of import to note that depictions, or celebrities' views on their own illnesses or disorders, may not resonate for some readers, as everyone's experience with mental illness and mental health disorders is nuanced and specific.
Contextualizing Mental Illness in a Culture Obsessed With Celebrity Tabloids
Thinking back on 2007 W, before he was public most his diagnosis, music critic Naima Cochrane told NPR affiliate WBUR that "It felt then — which is very different at present — like Kanye was kind of in on the 'Kanye is an a——' joke," she says, "which was actually part of the persona." Fast frontward to July 2020: West gives an interview about his potential presidential bid.
News outlets and folks on social media alike took to mocking Kanye's statements and Tweets — later all, the musician was non simply declaring his run for president, simply he had also controversially buddied up with Donald Trump a few years earlier and called existence an enslaved person "a pick," thus minimizing the violence enacted against Black people since America's founding. In the wake of said interview, The Root'southward J'na Jefferson wrote, "I personally don't think anyone should exist giving Kanye whatsoever attention, and talking near him or making fun of him instead of encouraging him to become help doesn't practice anyone any favors."
Instead of validation — of recognizing W's actions as a result of a manic episode — tabloids shame him. Unsolicited opinions overflowing social media. The result? Well, according to a 2017 survey conducted past the Substance Abuse and Mental Wellness Services Administration, about 1 in five Americans lives with a mental illness. That ways every fourth dimension there's a public response to ane of West's manic episodes, millions of people living with mental illnesses run across these responses to a celebrity they might, in some ways, identify with, and the stigma and shame persist.
Of class, West isn't the only celebrity whose mental disease has been fabricated into a source of entertainment. From actor/singer Lindsay Lohan, who has been public almost her alcoholism, to onetime Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes, who has been diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder and manic depression, celebrity mental health has go tabloid fodder. Just look at the #FreeBritney movement, which has cropped up around pop singer Britney Spears, who, at 40 years old, is still under strict conservatorship and very public scrutiny.
Bassey Ikpi, author of I'chiliad Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying: Essays, has publicly advocated for the media to reassess how it covers celebrity mental affliction and actions stemming from living with said illnesses. "Mental illness is not an excuse, but it is a reason," Ikpi told WBUR. "And information technology has to be contextualized. It has to be framed and then that people understand that the way that 1 behaves is the literal definition of what a mental illness is."
How Public Figures Living With Mental Disease Tin Assist United states Run into Ourselves More than Clearly
In the Root feature "Stop Shoving a Mic in Kanye'due south Face When He Really Needs a Manus," author Stephen A. Crockett Jr. notes that West's story isn't unlike that of creative person Jean-Michel Basquiat. "At one betoken Basquiat was having a hard time with heroin simply his fine art was going for record prices, then instead of getting him help with his addiction, his and then art dealer but moved him into the basement of the fine art gallery where he lived and did heroin and made art," Crockett writes. "We all know how that turned out."
In 2018, Due west released his 8th studio anthology, Ye, the embrace of which reads, "I detest existence Bi-Polar it's crawly." Since then, W has received flack for how he'due south managing his mental illness. It'due south true that, no matter your access or privilege, finding support and resources can be immensely challenging. Non to mention, mental illness is oft pathologized and criminalized — a harmful point of view that disproportionately impacts Black folks, people of color and unhoused folks. So, why the continued flack, especially when we've seen how the exploitation of public figures living with mental affliction and addiction can lead to loss of life?
Ikpi notes that, "Some people perceive that West has access to top-notch medical treatment but doesn't utilize it, which sparks resentment." Even when folks critique West, he "can't hear these responses due to his illness and lack of presence in the conversation." Once more, information technology'south not an alibi — merely it'south certainly a reason. Every bit Ikpi so succinctly puts information technology, "there's no space for accountability" in Due west's current situation.
Do Memes Have a Place in the Conversation Nearly Mental Wellness?
Every bit far as memes go, intention matters. Writing for Nylon, Bailey Calfee notes that "I constantly share memes almost anxiety and depression with people in my life who struggle with the same things. Sometimes, they're so spot-on that I wonder if the person who fabricated it hacked into my brain and made it only for me." The takeaway hither is that these sorts of memes are most connection — made for and past folks who are living with mental illnesses and disorders — and there'due south a specificity and intimacy to them; it'south about fostering a connection, not about vehement someone down or diagnosing them.
While Ikpi notes that in that location's no space for accountability when it comes to West hearing the conversation surrounding his diagnosis, there is room for accountability when it comes to the conversation surrounding mental health. Instead of turning these stories into sensationalized tabloid headlines, soundbites, Tweets and memes, the media (and folks posting on social media) should find means to lend back up and spread awareness.
Why is that shift so essential? Well, hither'due south one huge reason: According to Katrina Gay, the manager of strategic partnerships for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, "the best style to change someone'due south beliefs effectually mental affliction is to have a direct contact with someone who has a mental disease that you relate to."
Celebrities from Carrie Fisher and Simone Biles to Demi Lovato and Elliot Page take been more open about living with mental illness or disorder, habit and/or anxiety and depression — not simply for their own benefit, just likewise in the hopes of undoing the shame and stigma surrounding them. Lovato, for one, has spoken candidly virtually living with bipolar disorder and being in eating disorder and substance corruption recovery. In making genuine connections with fans, they are helping to break downwards some of that isolation — that inescapable feeling that you lot're the but one living with a mental illness. Of course, making connections comes with its own added responsibility; celebrities, whether they realize it or non, wield a lot of power when information technology comes to shaping public perception.
So, no matter the size of your platform, earlier adding to the chat, be sure you're not sensationalizing, pathologizing or criminalizing someone living with mental disease. And if you're someone who's living with a mental affliction, or someone you know is living with a mental illness, learn more about managing said illness and know that at that place are support systems and resource in place to help.
Source: https://www.ask.com/entertainment/ask-answers-mental-illness-celebrities?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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