Awareness – A Double-Edged Sword

I was declared bipolar long before it became trendy. I am an authentic, vintage, original first edition. None of this post-millennial, on-trend “mentally fragile” for me. This may not seem like a very PC article. Do read on.

Nowadays, if you aren't bipolar or depressed or something it appears you are no-one in Celebrity-ville. Crazy is the new cool. You need a good, edgy sounding mental health condition to maintain street cred in the media. Then, the watching drowsy masses can bleat and roll on to the bandwagon. And before you know it, you encounter someone perfectly healthy proclaiming themselves to be bipolar because they saw it on telly. ( I am not saying 
                                                                                   everyone is histrionically faking mental illness. Do bear with )

People throw psychiatric terminology around that they don't understand. This is because:-

1. Terminology like “bipolar” has entered mainstream vocabulary as a turn of phrase.

2. There are higher rates of diagnoses / illnesses covered in the media than 15 years ago

Now, there are some positive effects here; Anti-stigma campaigns have a better starting point for their conversations if people have at least heard of the term borderline personality disorder, for example. But – you also get an awful lot of headless chickens running around abusing the terms : “ Wow, my friend's Aunty Joyce is bipolar for sure. She says she can hear lettuce”. I think this just creates a new layer of stigma which is counter productive. Awareness is a double edge sword - education may lie on its' shiny upper surface but perhaps underneath could do with a polish.

People have always joked about madness and mental illness and they always will. But we are caught in a different craziness now where we are actively trying to identify with serious, debilitating and life threatening illnesses when it really does not apply to us. Depression is a life-threatening illness. Bipolar is debilitating. Schizophrenia is very, very serious. Are we doing this for attention because we need help, or are we confused? Are we so caught up in our consumerism of media-heroin that we subconsciously drive ourselves to become mimics of its own puppets?

I am not talking about being inspired by those who speak out. I am probably still alive because Stephen Fry became publicly well known as bipolar when he did. I am talking about the equivalent of going around saying you have cerebral palsy because you are terminally clumsy or of telling everyone that you are positive your cousin's girlfriend has leukaemia for no good reason.

There will always be silly people who behave ignorantly which is even more reason to pursue ways to enhance our understanding everyday. By doing so, people who need help get it. Lives really are saved. Real heroes stand in the light of their own drawn sword and what they choose to do with it.