Growing up in the nineties, I don’t remember much mental health depiction in pop culture unless they were the token “crazy” person in movies.
Mostly, I remember seeing mental health patients in treatment in these soul-crushing psychiatric asylums as if they were less-than or shells of humans they once were. The all-too-often dehumanizing treatment and mental health depiction in pop culture isn’t anything new. The cruel treatment of those struggling makes is a popular choice in past films.
The “crazy” trope was popularized in the horror genre, depictions of people going “mad” were all over the silver screen. For instance, the Ed Gein inspired Robert Bloch novel Psycho was adapted to film thanks to Alfred Hitchcock re-introducing us to the eerie boy next door, Norman Bates. The film spawned an entire genre of slasher movies with emotionally disturbed killers like Michael Myers in Halloween, and another Ed Gein inspired the film, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Films continuously echoed deep-rooted stigmas about mental health. The portrayal of “madmen” brought out the anti-heroes like Robert De Niro in Taxi Drive, Jack Nicholson in The Shining, Christian Bale in American Psycho, Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island, Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, and the list goes on.
Although in contrast, the women are portrayed as irrationally angry, hyper-sexualized, and of course, the typical adjective— hysterical. For example, Betty Blue, Fatal Attraction, Misery, Single White Female, Girl Interrupted, Black Swan, and Gone Girl, to name a few. While I never related to any of these particular ladies, the depictions of their different mental illness stayed with me. This is especially in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which was my introduction.
The music industry is a good example of a lack of understanding of mental health and normalizing people’s struggles. Although we have more resources available to us than before, awareness isn’t pop culture’s forte. Nevertheless, there’s been a growing number of outspoken artists who have opened up about their own struggles, whether expressing their stygian times of severe exhaustion or anxiety that touring musicians/artists face[b]. It’s glossed over due to the imagery of commercial success and that ‘Instagram life,’ which is often misleading.
Ariana Grande is an artist who’s been honest and open about her ongoing mental health struggles. After a tumultuous year, Grande released Sweetener, and her standout track Get Well Soon stuck with me. The song encapsulates the inner crooks and crannies of an anxiety attack right after having one. “Girl, what’s wrong with you? / Come back down,” she sings as herself while backed by a piano and stunning vocal refractions highlighting her resonating words.
Her recently dropped fifth studio album, thank u, next is no different. Chronicling the woes of heartbreak as well as the ups and downs of darkness that anxiety brings with songs like Needy.
Hayley Williams is another one of my favorites who has spoken out about mental health and the social expectation to be happy. In an op-ed with PAPER Magazine, Williams writes, “psychology is interesting. Depression is torment.” When I first read this article, I reread those words over and over. It hit so close to home, and you don’t expect artists to feel the same way. Sure, you see them in music videos, on social media, or misleading tabloids and forget that they’re real people too that often struggle too.
The surge of raising mental health awareness still isn’t enough. We need pop culture to continue to catch up because struggling with mental health is an ongoing battle within oneself. There’s not one definitive moment where you have a breakdown to end all breakdowns, and suddenly you’re “fixed.” You were never broken. Yes, the struggle is unwearying and even relentless at times. However, know that you’re not alone, contrary to what we may feel during dark times. Things may seem hopeless and like the end of the world, but know that you’re not crazy; your feelings are validated and real. This is something I am still learning, especially when I am at my worst. Fortunately, I’ve been able to cope and manage with the help of therapy, a tight-knit of supportive, non-judgmental friends, and having open and honest conversations with others about mental health.
If we continue this cultural shift of change, the media and pop culture can also alter their mental health perception. Instead of distorting, stereotyping, and labeling those struggling with mental health as “crazy” or “hysterical” just because the adjective fits what we think it means. Let’s stop glorifying these mental health myths and keep real conversations with more empathy and humanity.
[a] = While it’s difficult to encapsulate anxiety, for those who are unsure… Some of the disorder’s physical ramifications tend to be a racing heart, clenched chest, shortness of breath, dizziness, and/or lightheadedness. These physical symptoms tend to go unnoticed or misinterpreted.
[b] = For any artist reading, there are great support systems. Music Minds Matter is a great website that offers support in understanding the complexity of working in the music industry.
