Raena Moore

How to make having a mental illness a trend

Welcome, I understand that you want to make mental illness a trend. Well you have come to the

right place. American society will make anything a trend as long as it has momentum. If you

want to become as big as the Cinnamon, Tide Pod or Blue Whale challenge, here is the blueprint

that will change your life.

1. Joke about death

a. Death is an inevitable outcome of human life so it only makes sense to joke about

the subject. For example, saying ‘I want to kill myself’ after you wait until the last

minute to do all of your homework. Yes, this is a minor inconvenience,

furthermore, this does determine whether you live or chose to end your life. Death

is not at all serious. Only emotional fools care about dying so why should anyone

take the topic seriously. Think about what I am about to say. When you die, all

biological functions cease and you become a distant memory. It is only right to

cushion the impact of death years in advance so once you die, you are prepared to

go on with your life without grief. Turning into an emotionless robot is the only

way to prepare for the harsh realities of the world. This technique is essential to

the trend because it creates doubt within the mental illness community. If more

people joke about death, individuals who are actually struggling with wanting to

die will continue to be ignored. So, continue to joke about death; It is not like

dying is that big of a deal anyway.

2. Disappointment and depression are the same

a. You may be thinking how can this contribute to the trend. Well I will tell you how.

All you have to do is think of disappointment and depression as synonyms. Yes, It’s

that easy. Whenever you are disappointed, just tell everyone you are depressed. For

example, if your friend cancels on your plans or if some shoes you wanted were out

of stock, just say you are depressed! Any time something does not go the way you

would have liked it to go, blame your subsequent actions on depression. If you get

large numbers of people to do this, others who are actually depressed will be

overlooked and will remain unheard. By keeping these suffering souls in the shadows,

the trend will remain successful. In short, correlate your disappointment with

depression to make sure the depressed individuals do not get attention. You get the

idea.

3. Always Compete

a. Remember if your problems are worse than everyone else’s, you win. Everyone needs

to know they cannot compare to you. When your friend communicates their problems

to you, the best way to let them know they are alone is to complain about your own

issues to them. This process is called one upping. This is a great way to ensure they

never speak to anyone else about their issues again. They will retreat into their own

mind and continue to feel alone. If you silence the people who actually need help,

people will stop believing in mental illness because the people who contribute to the

trend will be the only people who speak up. Keeping these struggling individuals

oppressed is a key goal in making having a mental illness a trend.

4. Make sure you know that mental illness is just a personality trait

a. Using a mental illness for whatever you are feeling at the moment is totally fine. For

example, saying you have ADHD because you do not want to do your homework. Or

saying, ‘I am so OCD’ when you decide to clean your desk. There is a self-diagnosed

mental illness for every moment. The best part about it, is that this turns the idea of

having a mental illness into a joke which helps contribute to the trend. This single

handedly implants doubt into the public. Now less people can help teens who are

suffering from a mental illness, while more people can diminish the credibility of

mental illness diagnosis. More brownie points for you!

5. Know that you have contributed to the statistics

a. If you have followed this blueprint, then you have contributed in these statistics.

There are 123 suicides per day and for every suicide, there are 25 attempts (American

Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2016). At least 90% of teens who kill themselves

suffer from some type of mental health problem (American Academy of Pediatrics,

2016). The new idea of making mental illness trendy silences victims and helps to

create a faction of mental illness nonbelievers. Due to the efforts of these

nonbelievers, suicide victims are usually undiagnosed, undertreated or untreated for

their mental illness. How does it feel to know you have played a role in the process of

these suicide victims transition from functional members of society to grief stricken,

pain bearing, silenced individuals? You have proudly succeeded in making sure

society ignores these teens; Because they are obviously lying, right?
 References

Suicide Statistics — AFSP. (2016). Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://afsp.org/about-

suicide/suicide-statistics/

Teen Suicide Statistics. (2016, October 10). Retrieved April 26, 2018, from

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/emotional-

problems/Pages/Teen-Suicide-Statistics.aspx