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In the 21st century, mental health awareness has undergone a profound transformation. Once confined only to hushed tones and whispers, conversations about mental health now take center stage in our daily discourse. What was once taboo is now celebrated as a sign of strength and self-awareness. We’ve witnessed remarkable movements in destigmatizing mental health struggles and have created a culture where seeking help is encouraged rather than shunned. This newfound openness has given individuals the courage to confront their inner demons and seek the support they need—which is a positive shift that has undoubtedly saved lives and improved countless others.
However, despite this commendable shift toward openness, a strange trend has emerged. As our collective consciousness around mental health issues has expanded, so, too, has their prevalence. For decades, psychological disorders were either branded as “craziness” or just ignored. Now, however, it’s rare to find someone untouched by mental health challenges. Friends, family members, colleagues—almost everyone knows someone who grapples with anxiety, depression, or other psychological afflictions. It begs the question: in our efforts to shine a spotlight on mental health, have we accidentally contributed to its proliferation? And is social media fueling this trend?
Mental Health Awareness vs. Mental Health Hyperawareness
Mental health awareness isn’t inherently negative. Breaking down barriers and encouraging open dialogue are vital steps toward building a healthier society. Yet, as mental health becomes increasingly prominent in public discourse, we must face the unintended consequences of this awareness. Are we inadvertently normalizing mental health struggles to the extent that they become an expected aspect of life? And, in doing so, are we exacerbating the very issues we want to address? According to an April 2023 study from New Ideas in Psychology, the answer is yes and no.
On the one hand, the authors echo the global sentiment that mental health awareness has played an invaluable role in helping individuals recognize and seek help for previously unrecognized struggles. By shedding light on the diverse range of symptoms associated with various psychological disorders, awareness efforts have empowered individuals to identify their own mental health challenges and access appropriate support.
This has led to more accurate reporting of otherwise under-recognized and stigmatized psychological symptoms—which has positively facilitated early intervention and treatment. As many can attest, mental health awareness has unquestionably helped destigmatize psychological disorders and encouraged a proactive approach to mental well-being.
On the other hand, increased knowledge about mental health disorders and symptoms has led to a phenomenon of “hyperawareness.” According to the authors, healthy and natural negative human emotions—such as stress, sadness, and anxiety—are now often misinterpreted as pathological symptoms. This hyperawareness can inadvertently exacerbate the symptoms, as individuals may label normal, mild forms of distress as mental health problems.
Concerningly, this labeling can affect self-concept and behavior in a self-fulfilling manner, potentially worsening symptoms over time. For instance, interpreting normal levels of anxiety as being indicative of an anxiety disorder may lead to behavioral avoidance, which can further amplify anxiety. This cyclical process of interpretation and symptom exacerbation then fuels further awareness efforts, ultimately creating a feedback loop of intensified focus on mental health issues.
In essence, mental health awareness has ironically become a double-edged sword. While it has undoubtedly led to positive outcomes, such as increased recognition and support, it has also led some to become skeptical of their own natural range of emotions. This prompts individuals to become overly alert, cynical, and on the lookout for anything that rings a psychological bell—creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that is now referred to as the “prevalence inflation hypothesis.”
Causes and Effects of Mental Health Hyperawareness
According to a study published in Discover Psychology in April 2024, social media platforms—once revered for pioneering the discussion of mental health awareness—have paradoxically become breeding grounds for hyperawareness.
Many individuals turn to these platforms as avenues for psychoeducation through mental health awareness content. However, the credibility of these content creators is often unknown, and their insights may not be grounded in professional expertise. Even worse, the credibility of these creators often isn’t seen as relevant to conversations about mental health, leading to the proliferation of misinformation and misconceptions.
With the overconsumption of psychoeducational content on social media, individuals are algorithmically fed and re-fed messages about mental health, leading to a state of hyperawareness. This hyperawareness often leads to the problem of self-diagnosis—as individuals relate to, engage with, and consume content that encourages them to interpret their experiences through the lens of mental health disorders. Consequently, they construct identities based on their own self-assessments, potentially overlooking tricky details that almost always require professional evaluation.
Problematically, when those who have self-diagnosed seek therapy and treatment, they may encounter mental health professionals who do not validate their self-assessments. This dissonance between their self-constructed identity and professional evaluation can leave individuals feeling judged, disenfranchised, and mistrustful. In response, some individuals may turn to the same social media platforms to express their frustrations; this restarts the cycle of hyperawareness while also dangerously promoting content that is antithetical to genuine mental healthcare.
To neutralize hyperawareness, we must remember that it’s vital to seek help when needed but equally as vital to maintain a critical perspective on the information we encounter on social media. While social media are certainly valuable tools for education, they should not serve as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.
We must resist the temptation to get stuck in echo chambers that overly normalize complex and sometimes devastating diagnoses—or worse, portray them as desirable. Instead, we should restart the original open dialogue about mental health that importantly acknowledged the validity of human emotions—those that we should not be cynical about. Otherwise, we may forget that feelings like sadness and anxiety are normal and sometimes warranted, as life can be sad and stressful at times. These feelings do not mean we’re unwell; they mean we’re human.
A version of this post also appears on Forbes.com.
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