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Mental Health Feels More Like A Joke

Grace Bianco
Black Bear
Published in
4 min readAug 7, 2024
Photo by Emily Underworld on Unsplash

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Laughter is good. As corny as it sounds, laughter really is the best medicine.

In an age of being overly sensitive, it’s good to learn how to laugh at oneself and make light out of hard things.

But there’s also time for feeling all the feelings that need to be felt.

When jokes may not feel as funny. When laughter feels directed at a person rather than with them. When their mental health feels so isolating that people’s laughter only seems to push them away even more.

There’s a balance, and that balance seems to be getting more and more lost.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

“I am going to kill myself” and “Kill yourself” hardly mean anything these days.

When suicide jokes don’t make people bat an eye, what happens when someone says it with some truth behind it?

When joking about a chaotic anxious mind becomes the most popular meme, what happens when someone starts panicking, and it’s found to be more hilarious than concerning?

When “everyone” is depressed, because adulting is hard, what happens when someone is actually struggling with depression, but they are just seen as being relatable?

Are we seeing the point?

Mental health awareness is good, but when it becomes this hilarious and relatable thing, it can take away the seriousness of it too.

When people are actually struggling, the jokes and being brushed off don’t always stop.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

What’s the solution? Should we never make a lighthearted joke again?

Absolutely not.

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Black Bear
Black Bear

Published in Black Bear

At Black Bear, we share informative articles and personal stories about struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Grace Bianco
Grace Bianco

Written by Grace Bianco

I am the author of “Party Pooper: Growing up with Anxiety.” I love oversharing my life. I talk about my faith, marriage, mental health, & everything in between.

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