Self-Harm Memes: Healthy or Harmful?
Taking a stroll down a relatable lane
If there are two things that Gen Z does really well, it is memes, and making light of mental illness. It isn’t surprising then that there are a massive amount of memes about mental illness and self-harm. I came of age around the time that Broadband replaced Dial-Up, and as a teenager, I knew of only one or two support sites for people like myself who were struggling. These sites were strongly-moderated and structured in such a way that users would have the safest experience possible.
My experience is one in stark contrast to that of young people now. There seem to be an endless amount of places on the internet that a young person can turn to in times of need, and not only when they really need it. While my generation whispered in shame about our compulsions and what we’d done to ourselves, the current younger generation appear, on the surface at least, to be shouting about it online.
I can imagine that anyone who hasn’t self-harmed or been a part of this little ‘world’ may be horrified to read and hear the casual mentions of self-mutilation. However, Psychologists have suggested that self-harm memes and the like can be very helpful. There are a couple of reasons why:
- It’s often an easier way to communicate feelings
- Better communication means…
