Mental Health Disorders Can Look Different on Everyone
Image From: verywellmind.com
The Meaning Behind
This website was created to spread awareness on the varying mental health disorders past the surface level misperceptions. I wanted to shed light on how these disorders do not encompass just one group of people, but those of different races, ages, and especially gender. With this website I would hope for people to move past the common beliefs that mental health disorders only impact women and that having these disorders just mean that one is "sad." I would like to illustrate the dark background behind these disorders, its different sectors, and how it is more than the shallow stereotypes presented in media and daily life.
Common Misperceptions
I have collected research through multiple interviews as well as a survey from a variety of ages, race, and gender. This allowed me to analyze a diversity of perspectives and experiences from those who have suffered from a mental health disorder. Here is a summary of misperceptions quoted from my participants in my research.
1.
"Many people think that if you seek help you’re weak."
2.
"It's thought of as something extremely wrong and different, but the reality of the situation is that mental health is much more common than we think or want to admit.".
3.
"Anxiety is so often pictured as rocking back and forth when there's so many other ways it presents itself. People also often say it's all in your head."
4.
"Our disorders are romanticized or generalized in the media. There are so many shows about depressed white girls or autistic white boys who consistently have the same symptoms. It’s problematic because disorders can look different in different people"
5.
"Others often portray people with disorders to look crazy."
6.
"There’s this stigma that seeking help for your mental health is a sign of weakness and is looked down upon. When in reality, checking in with your mental health and seeking the necessary help is essential to being human."
7.
"Many people say most people with mental health disorders (such as depression) have no reason to be sad."
8.
"A lot of people see mental health disorders as a personality trait and it shouldn’t be that way."
9.
"I believe that many people see mental illnesses as being preventable due to conditions that one puts themselves in but it’s the opposite. Many people are unaware that many mental conditions are due to chemical misfires in the brain etc."
10.
" People often think its situational but often nothing is happening but people still have it."
11.
"A lot of people think that just white females have anorexia, as exhibited in movies and TV shows. POC struggle with this and are not represented in media."
12.
"Many people see those with mental health disorders as needing to be saved, but this is not true."
Driving Questions
-
Do the branches of mental health disorders tend to overlap?
-
Is the community misrepresented and/or have a common stereotype surrounding it?
-
How does the experience of having a mental health disorder vary among races and/or gender?
-
What are common triggers and situations that could possibly magnify mental illness symptoms or are looked over?
-
Do mental health disorders tend to populate a specific age group or generation?