MMHCKI Illusion vs Reality
Posted By Kathleen David on April 26, 2021
I was reading an article about how people become depressed when they spend a lot of time on social media. There were a number of reasons given but one stood out for me which was feeling inadequate because everyone is doing better than them.
We have phrases that surround this like “keeping up with the Jones” or “Living Your Best Life” or YOLO (You Only Live Once).
There are articles screaming in the margins of our social media “Ten tricks to live your best life” or “How to be happy in 30 days” or “Overcome anxiety with these secrets”.
And it makes one feel like they are missing something in their life that everyone else seems to have figured out.
I have never understood ‘influencers’ or what they do that makes they so awesome. I like people to teach me something or make me think but don’t make me feel bad about myself.
Even with everything that may be screwed up in my brain, I am comfortable in my skin. Are there things I wouldn’t mind changing? Of course, but everyone has those feelings. But overall, I am fine as I am.
What I think people forget is that most of social media is composed of the best moments or directed to look that way.
No one talks about the bad times. The things that feel like a weight on our shoulders because that would be a ‘downer’ and ‘off brand”.
I remember when I first started writing seriously about my mental health about ten or eleven years ago. I got a couple of emails of concern from friends about putting that out on the Internet. They said the Internet is forever and if you want a job, then you shouldn’t give them a reason to not hire you.
That made me a bit angry, and I promised myself I would continue to write about mental health, the good, the bad, and the ugly and not sugar coat things.
Well…I do sugar coat somethings because of the other people involved but I am honest about my feelings and how I am doing.
And I know this has helped people because they have told me that I have helped them. Seeing someone else deal with mental health issues can be empowering because then one knows that are not alone in those sorts of feelings.
If I can keep someone from committing suicide, then everything I have written was worth it. If I can help someone seek help, worth it. If I can help one person see that what they are feeling is not the end of the world, worth it. If I can help one person feel better about themselves, worth it.
What people put out there on the Internet needs to be taken with a grain of salt. There are things that you don’t know. Life is complicated. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.
Even the Beautiful People have bad days.
I am grateful for those who are really keeping it real rather than creating an illusion.
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