Mental illness and being aware

Robin Williams died today, and the cause is likely to be suicide. It's not confirmed, but because the cause of death was asphyxiation, it's likely.

I suppose I'm a little more torn up about it than I thought I would be. Williams played a substantial role in my childhood, and he voiced a character named Batty in one of my favorite movies of all time, Ferngully. 

I think the movie of his that stuck with me the most was probably What Dreams May Come. It's a film about mental illness and about dealing with grief and loss. I remember thinking it was an odd few, but it's popped into my head a lot throughout the years.

What I think is important to take from this is to use it as a reminder that mental illness happens to everyone, and that it's important to take care of the ones you love and never condemn someone for having one. Mental illness is surprisingly common. And it doesn't always manifest in obvious ways.

Historically, mental illness has been regarded as a taboo, as something that is discussed, but perhaps not often enough and not in the correct way. Harmful words that I have also been guilty of using, such as "crazy" and "insane" should not be used, and it's important to regard everyone's state of mind, even when your own isn't the best.

Anyways, I don't feel like going into detail much, let's just not turn this into another actor tragedy. Let's look upon this as a reminder that life is short, but every life is precious and incredibly important.

Please, everyone, appreciate your loved ones for everything in their soul, dark and light, and never lose hope.

A Culture of Pessimism Conformity

I can already tell you that I am not about to blog what you think I am going to blog about. I am not about to discuss the traditional ideas of conforming to mainstream culture to be accepted, nor am I about to talk about the more complex but equally as discussed topics of culture assimilation, globalization, and westernization.

What I am about to talk about is a disturbing conclusion I have come to about current generations. Current generations are generations of pessimism conformity.

Having recently entered the internet culture of Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I have noticed that a lot of posts and are pessimistic and accepting of procrastination, sluggishness and low self-esteem.

I am not about to tell you to “cheer up.”

However, I do think constantly spreading these messages of unhappiness, failure and procrastination, things I also experience daily and have been overwhelmed with in the past, are not helping your fellow internet users. It’s perpetuating the cycle of negativity.

The cycle of negativity is something I did not realize existed until I was pulled out of it myself. I find internet culture does not help stay out of the cycle of negativity if you are not constantly aware of the potential effects of what you’re consuming may have on you.

I am not promoting a lockdown of expression. As a journalist, I support free speech in all things. However, I do think we need to take a hard look at the messages we’re sending into circulation and how they affect the general morale of the internet culture and community.

Yes. I do think the internet has developed to the point where it has an overall mass consciousness involving morale. That morale must be cared for and used to help the world, not to spread negativity and acceptance of the constant negativity.

Do not be lulled into complacency. Do not give up hope. Join my campaign to increase positivity on the internet in any way you can.

Have any questions? Comments? Concerns? There’s a comment box. And if you’re actually reading this, you probably have my phone number, so just call me.