I woke up this morning and noticed that '#GrowingUpWithAnxiety' was all over my timeline and coming from someone who has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, I don't know what disturbed me more: people mistaking anxiety for being shy or the fact that the disorder that I have been struggling with for more than half my life has been turned into a trendy hashtag. Everybody experiences anxiety in their own unique way, but I feel as though the definition of the term anxiety has been significantly distorted with people describing it as being shy or struggling with social interaction. Yes, there is such a thing as social anxiety but being socially awkward does not definitely mean you have social anxiety or anxiety.
I don't intend to offend anyone who has used this hashtag at all, as I personally believe (feel free to correct me) that the misuse of mental health disorders is due to both the media and society continually glamourising disorders without educating individuals accurately. I enjoy Keeping Up With The Kardashians as much as the next person, but referring to a stressful situation or the slightest bit of nervousness with "omg, it's causing me anxiety" is just not accurate and has consequences on others who feel as though they can use this phrase in the same context as them. I feel as though most disorders nowadays are misunderstood or exaggerated due to people self diagnosing themselves or believing that it's okay to use the incorrect definition of anxiety to describe mild feelings of nervousness.
I think that it's important to point out that everyone experiences feelings of anxiety and worry at some point in their lives, but I've always believed that there's a huge difference between that and being diagnosed with an actual anxiety disorder. I also understand that everyone who has been diagnosed with anxiety can experience this disorder in different ways and with different symptoms.
I don't really want to go into my whole anxiety story at this point since it's a private matter and simply just writing this post which I intend to share on social media is a little bit nerve wracking, but I feel like it's important to share my thoughts with you on this hashtag and the whole idea of glamourising mental health. The last thing I wanted to do with this blog post is offend anyone so I apologise if I have. Please let me know your thoughts since I'd love to learn more and I do try to have an open mind.
I don't intend to offend anyone who has used this hashtag at all, as I personally believe (feel free to correct me) that the misuse of mental health disorders is due to both the media and society continually glamourising disorders without educating individuals accurately. I enjoy Keeping Up With The Kardashians as much as the next person, but referring to a stressful situation or the slightest bit of nervousness with "omg, it's causing me anxiety" is just not accurate and has consequences on others who feel as though they can use this phrase in the same context as them. I feel as though most disorders nowadays are misunderstood or exaggerated due to people self diagnosing themselves or believing that it's okay to use the incorrect definition of anxiety to describe mild feelings of nervousness.
I think that it's important to point out that everyone experiences feelings of anxiety and worry at some point in their lives, but I've always believed that there's a huge difference between that and being diagnosed with an actual anxiety disorder. I also understand that everyone who has been diagnosed with anxiety can experience this disorder in different ways and with different symptoms.
I don't really want to go into my whole anxiety story at this point since it's a private matter and simply just writing this post which I intend to share on social media is a little bit nerve wracking, but I feel like it's important to share my thoughts with you on this hashtag and the whole idea of glamourising mental health. The last thing I wanted to do with this blog post is offend anyone so I apologise if I have. Please let me know your thoughts since I'd love to learn more and I do try to have an open mind.
I agree, as much as the hashtag could be informative I feel as if it's becoming a competition and people are comparing their problems to the next person, who's has the most anxiety today? Who's the most depressed today? It's creating a joke out of something that people genuinely suffer with on a day to day basis. x
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you! You've made such a valuable point :)
ReplyDeleteSophie x