Discussion The "Quirkification" of Mental Illness

[ma0]

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, the TikTok kid who can't stop blabbering on about their "depression" and "mental illness", sometimes bragging about it, as if it's something to be proud of.

Of course, venting is absolutely understandable. Needing to express emotions is a key part of just living, but there comes a point where you need to draw a line between discussing your despressive thoughts in a healthy way, and just straight up flexing them.

I can't tell you how many times I'll see teens, mostly 13 or 14, styling their entire personality online based off of whatever trauma they may have had. Bragging about their self-harm scars because it makes them "different." "Look at me! I cut myself! Aren't I so quirky pleasegivemeattentionihavenootherpersonality!!!!!"

The worst part is that 2/3 of the time, these kids aren't even suffering that much. I'm incredibly positive that they just adopt this "teehee depression makes me quirky" personality because they see others do it and think it's the shit. It really invalidates people like you or me on this website who are genuinely suffering, because the entire space around these subjects is filled with artifically created trauma and, if you're lucky, a surface level history of depression. It makes it nearly impossible to tell who's serious and who's just doing it "for the aesthetic."

I should probably mention that I have little issue with goth/emo culture in general, my issue arises when people try to steal undeserved attention using the fact that they're mentally ill as a lure, as if to say "Look how different I am!"

So yeah, that's just something that annoyed me off my chest. Any opinions on this?

 

[penguinl0v3s]

I can see children doing it more because of a lesser ability to emotionally regulate. I used to be more externally volatile as a kid despite being more depressed now.

I don't think it's right to say people are self-harming for attention. It could be a part of it, but happy people don't get attention is severe ways like harming themselves. Human instinct is to not harm yourself and it takes a lot of willpower to defy that.

As someone who used to be on self-harm Twitter there was a lot of joy from sharing suffering with other self-harmers. It wasn't for outsiders to notice.

TikTok has normalized oversharing which really sucks for the people in shitty situations. People online don't have others' best interest in mind and just see them as entertainment.

 

[ma0]

I can see children doing it more because of a lesser ability to emotionally regulate. I used to be more externally volatile as a kid despite being more depressed now.

I don't think it's right to say people are self-harming for attention. It could be a part of it, but happy people don't get attention is severe ways like harming themselves. Human instinct is to not harm yourself and it takes a lot of willpower to defy that.

As someone who used to be on self-harm Twitter there was a lot of joy from sharing suffering with other self-harmers. It wasn't for outsiders to notice.

TikTok has normalized oversharing which really sucks for the people in shitty situations. People online don't have others' best interest in mind and just see them as entertainment.

I do agree with most of the things you've said, and frankly I maybe should've been a bit more respectful in my original post.

What I'm mainly referring to are instances where it very clearly is meant for outsiders to notice, to shock them or whatever. I do think that if it's between insiders then it makes sense.

 

[Namelesa]

Definitely some of these people that are doing this aren't actually suffering greatly but some of them might. I understand the want to get attention by using their pain as a way to get that cus a part of their suffering may be a lack of attention or they get attention as a way of coping. I also understand using mental illness as part of their identity as the illness will have a big effect on their life. I think I would say I have done this to a degree myself as I have quirkified my mental problems and I rarely hide my self harm scars in front of other people as I like to get attention to relieve my pain and feelings of emptiness and get sympathy from others.

 

[ma0]

Definitely some of these people that are doing this aren't actually suffering greatly but some of them might. I understand the want to get attention by using their pain as a way to get that cus a part of their suffering may be a lack of attention or they get attention as a way of coping. I also understand using mental illness as part of their identity as the illness will have a big effect on their life. I think I would say I have done this to a degree myself as I have quirkified my mental problems and I rarely hide my self harm scars in front of other people as I like to get attention to relieve my pain and feelings of emptiness and get sympathy from others.

If it's for sympathy I sort of understand the reason behind it, and if someone is genuinely in mental pain then it completely makes sense. When the main intent is shock value is when I personally have a problem with it.

 

[Jadeith]

...because everyone is special. That phrase and mentioned before "oversharing" (which imho is not only restricted to TikTok) caused many artificial "outbtreaks".
If you can't come up with something genuine because you are really average then imitate something popular to gain attention. Being a victim counts too and it's quite effective. Yes there are people on line who are depressed, suicidal, self harming, et cetera and getting together helps them to share experiences and support each other. And yes, there are people trying to get attention by emulating such problems and everything is trauma now.
Same happened to identity and gender dysphoria - there is a handful of people suffering, surrounded by oceans of copycats, pranksters and other individuals craving for likes, who just have to present themselves as special and they come up with everything from gender fluid unicorns to attack helicopters.
Another thing - racism. Sure, there are people who suffered and still suffer to a degree from it. But most of the time it's a weapon to shut down anyone a bit more pinkish than you and/or play a victim.
Feminism - same deal. It's forbidden to treat women as less worthy than men in most civilized parts of the world but still, those most civilized parts of the world cry the loudest for women's rights which are already present for more than 100 years.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Bragging about their self-harm scars because it makes them "different." "Look at me! I cut myself! Aren't I so quirky pleasegivemeattentionihavenootherpersonality!!!!!"

If someone is so desperate for attention to the point where they are harming themselves then that is a sign that something deeper is going on. Treating it as though they are just harming themselves for the sake of trying to be "quirky" is unbelievable.

 

[brokeandbroken]

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, the TikTok kid who can't stop blabbering on about their "depression" and "mental illness", sometimes bragging about it, as if it's something to be proud of.

Of course, venting is absolutely understandable. Needing to express emotions is a key part of just living, but there comes a point where you need to draw a line between discussing your despressive thoughts in a healthy way, and just straight up flexing them.

I can't tell you how many times I'll see teens, mostly 13 or 14, styling their entire personality online based off of whatever trauma they may have had. Bragging about their self-harm scars because it makes them "different." "Look at me! I cut myself! Aren't I so quirky pleasegivemeattentionihavenootherpersonality!!!!!"

The worst part is that 2/3 of the time, these kids aren't even suffering that much. I'm incredibly positive that they just adopt this "teehee depression makes me quirky" personality because they see others do it and think it's the shit. It really invalidates people like you or me on this website who are genuinely suffering, because the entire space around these subjects is filled with artifically created trauma and, if you're lucky, a surface level history of depression. It makes it nearly impossible to tell who's serious and who's just doing it "for the aesthetic."

I should probably mention that I have little issue with goth/emo culture in general, my issue arises when people try to steal undeserved attention using the fact that they're mentally ill as a lure, as if to say "Look how different I am!"

So yeah, that's just something that annoyed me off my chest. Any opinions on this?

To be honest I think it may be even worse. You have people say I have X when they very obviously don't or do it somewhat sarcastically because they think particular traits are cool. While people that have it more or less are stigmatized and shunned from society... It creates are disproportionate expectation of what things are and aren't.

 

[Apathy79]

The age group you're talking about usually craves attention. This is one of many means to that end. Yes it's often fake and ultimately people will shun them for it. But they don't know any better yet. The goal is max likes and followers. The method is pick a persona. Playing the victim seems to get rewarded so let's go with that. It needs to be extreme to get attention. And see if you can fake it until you become the character you're playing. That's social media today.

 

[ma0]

If someone is so desperate for attention to the point where they are harming themselves then that is a sign that something deeper is going on. Treating it as though they are just harming themselves for the sake of trying to be "quirky" is unbelievable.

Obviously if they are geniunely lacking empathy and care in their lives then yes, it should be treated more seriously. I'm more so referring to the group who do it not to gain sympathy but for mere shock value. Sorry, I understand I should be more respectful.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Obviously if they are geniunely lacking empathy and care in their lives then yes, it should be treated more seriously. I'm more so referring to the group who do it not to gain sympathy but for mere shock value. Sorry, I understand I should be more respectful.

If they are doing it for pure shock value than that is still cause for concern. That really change anything here.

 

[ma0]

If they are doing it for pure shock value than that is still cause for concern. That really change anything here.

Maybe I shouldn't have brought up the topic of self-harm in my original post, it was more of an angry rant and I wasn't really thinking of what I was actually saying.

It really doesn't match the general topic of the thread, and I would edit it to remove it but I sadly can't...

Just know that this is the type of shit I mean when I say "The Quirkification of Mental Illness", all the stuff about self-harm was fucked up of me to say and i'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable...

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Just know that this is the type of shit I mean when I say "The quirkification of Mental Illness", all the stuff about self-harm was fucked up of me to say and I'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable...

View attachment 160900

The meme that you posted isn't that good of an example of "the quirkification of mental illness". Memes like that are made all the time by children who actually are mentally ill and who don't know how to cope with it. Mentally ill children are children so sometimes they may vent/express themselves in ways that are a bit cringe or strange, such as by creating weird memes like the one you posted. I've seen a lot of cases of these people all-grown up joking about having done this shit when they were younger and still learning to cope with their mental health issues. This is a pretty piss-poor example, tbh.

A better example would actually be people using ChatGPT to generate made-up mental illnesses and claiming that they have them.

 

[ma0]

The meme that you posted isn't that good of an example of "the quirkification of mental illness". Memes like that are made all the time by children who actually are mentally ill and who don't know how to cope with it. Mentally ill children are children so sometimes they may vent/express themselves in ways that are a bit cringe or strange, such as by creating weird memes like the one you posted. I've seen a lot of cases of these people even joking about having done this shit when they were and still learning to cope with their mental health issues. This is a pretty piss-poor example, tbh.

A better example would actually be people using ChatGPT to generate made-up mental illnesses and claiming that they have them.

I do agree that the whole AI mental illness thing is absolutely a better example, but just from my own personal experience, kids who post stuff like what I showed are sometimes just doing it because they see others do it and try to copy it.

I remember when I was a lot younger, when my life was somewhat decent, I used to do that stuff all the time. Not because I was mentally ill, up to that point I had been fine, but just because I wanted to emulate what I saw.

Obviously mentally ill children exist, but it's a trap that I myself fell into in the past of just emulating it for the hell of it.

 

[brokeandbroken]

The age group you're talking about usually craves attention. This is one of many means to that end. Yes it's often fake and ultimately people will shun them for it. But they don't know any better yet. The goal is max likes and followers. The method is pick a persona. Playing the victim seems to get rewarded so let's go with that. It needs to be extreme to get attention. And see if you can fake it until you become the character you're playing. That's social media today.

Fascinating how playing the victim gets you rewarded. Actually being a victim does not and in fact gets you the exact opposite.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Fascinating how playing the victim gets you rewarded. Actually being a victim does not and in fact gets you the exact opposite.

I mean, there are victims who do end up getting "rewarded" for their victimhood. With that in mind, if someone is an actual victim that means there is likely a perpetrator and said perpetrator likely already has people who are fond of them and who will go out of their way to defend them as a result. To add onto this, only a small amount of victims behave in ways that fit into the "perfect victim" archetype. People tend to view the world through a dichotomous lens (good vs bad) which can mean that victims who act out in ways that fit into the idea of what it means to be a good person can lead to further scrutiny.

Along with that, the whole "fake victim" doesn't really work as well when you are part of a marginalized community. While anyone can be a victim, being a part of a marginalized demographic means that there might be an increased likelihood of you being abused, bullied, SAed, experiencing hate crimes, experiencing police brutality, etc. Marginalized people are already held to higher scrutiny and are already more likely to be dehumanized, so if you are part of a marginalized group and are a victim then you are a lot less likely to gain sympathy and might be more at risk of being blamed for what happened to you. Hence why a lot of these cases of people online pretending to be victims usually come from privileged backgrounds (not always, but often). People tend to hold more sympathy for the privileged than they do for the marginalized.

Basically, victims might be less likely to be rewarded for their victimhood as a result of not being perfect victims and due to the biases we have towards others (both towards the individuals and towards entire demographics of people). People who fake being victims generally don't have as many hurdles to jump through in order to be taken seriously. I should note that this is just my guess and that the answer to this is probably more complex than what I'm presenting in my post.

 

[brokeandbroken]

I mean, there are victims who do end up getting "rewarded" for their victimhood. With that in mind, if someone is an actual victim that means there is likely a perpetrator and said perpetrator likely already has people who are fond of them and who will go out of their way to defend them as a result. To add onto this, only a small amount of victims behave in ways that fit into the "perfect victim" archetype. People tend to view the world through a dichotomous lens (good vs bad) which can mean that victims who act out in ways that fit into the idea of what it means to be a good person can lead to further scrutiny.

Along with that, the whole "fake victim" doesn't really work as well when you are part of a marginalized community. While anyone can be a victim, being a part of a marginalized demographic means that there might be an increased likelihood of you being abused, bullied, SAed, experiencing hate crimes, experiencing police brutality, etc. Marginalized people are already held to higher scrutiny and are already more likely to be dehumanized, so if you are part of a marginalized group and are a victim then you are a lot less likely to gain sympathy and might be more at risk of being blamed for what happened to you. Hence why a lot of these cases of people online pretending to be victims usually come from privileged backgrounds (not always, but often). People tend to hold more sympathy for the privileged than they do for the marginalized.

Basically, victims might be less likely to be rewarded for their victimhood as a result of not being perfect victims and due to the biases we have towards others (both towards the individuals and towards entire demographics of people). People who fake being victims generally don't have as many hurdles to jump through in order to be taken seriously. I should note that this is just my guess and that the answer to this is probably more complex than what I'm presenting in my post.

Define rewarded I feel like this has a myopic view of the situation. Take This situation. Maybe you see that as a reward but I'm pretty sure if he could choose to go through it or not he wouldn't. It's just setting things right.

Who is a marginalized community here? My view is the marginalized community least the classically viewed marginalized community is used as a reason to do. When you are a victim you need people to do things. So they get help by virtue of just being seen as marginalized. It's pretty concerning otherwise. By definition on paper most wouldn't call me marginalized. I grew up upper middle class maybe even at times upper class. I have a college degree and went to medical school (admittedly who committed the crimes). On paper I should be oozing with privilege. But I was a victim of crimes my family abandoned me. By victim I mean i didn't commit the crime it was committed against me I can't get even a minimum wage job. The on paper thing is a reason to *not* help me. If I was in a marginalized group you wouldn't even need the paper it would just be like oh you are marginalized that's a reason to help you. So no I disagree.

What i think you are missing is a group called the almost victim. The people who aren't actually victims but are close to it. See i don't believe the world gives a ratsass about helping actual victims. They reserve everything for the almost victim. You almost were a victim oh boy you need so much help while the actual victim languishes. What's sympathy to a victim anyways. You don't want sympathy you want people to do something get you out of whatever hell you are in. You think dude in the article was hoping for people to shout sweet nothings at him or to be let out. Sympathy is meaningless. It's just an excuse for people to not have to do the thing they should.

I really don't think the perp being protected thing is routinely true either. Rarely maybe. I just think people don't give a shit.

Again rewarded is a weird term. No one is rewarded for being a victim. You just hope things are made right. The almost victim has nothing to lose. They don't get sympathy who cares they weren't anyways. It's house money basically.

 

[Kbeau]

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, the TikTok kid who can't stop blabbering on about their "depression" and "mental illness", sometimes bragging about it, as if it's something to be proud of.

Of course, venting is absolutely understandable. Needing to express emotions is a key part of just living, but there comes a point where you need to draw a line between discussing your despressive thoughts in a healthy way, and just straight up flexing them.

I can't tell you how many times I'll see teens, mostly 13 or 14, styling their entire personality online based off of whatever trauma they may have had. Bragging about their self-harm scars because it makes them "different." "Look at me! I cut myself! Aren't I so quirky pleasegivemeattentionihavenootherpersonality!!!!!"

The worst part is that 2/3 of the time, these kids aren't even suffering that much. I'm incredibly positive that they just adopt this "teehee depression makes me quirky" personality because they see others do it and think it's the shit. It really invalidates people like you or me on this website who are genuinely suffering, because the entire space around these subjects is filled with artifically created trauma and, if you're lucky, a surface level history of depression. It makes it nearly impossible to tell who's serious and who's just doing it "for the aesthetic."

I should probably mention that I have little issue with goth/emo culture in general, my issue arises when people try to steal undeserved attention using the fact that they're mentally ill as a lure, as if to say "Look how different I am!"

So yeah, that's just something that annoyed me off my chest. Any opinions on this?

People these days also self-diagnose and then tell everyone they're ADHD

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Who is a marginalized community here?

By marginalized communities, I'm referring to communities that face systematic oppression, such as the LGBTA+ community and the BIPOC community.

By definition on paper most wouldn't call me marginalized. I grew up upper middle class maybe even at times upper class. I have a college degree and went to medical school (admittedly who committed the crimes). On paper I should be oozing with privilege. But I was a victim of crimes my family abandoned me. By victim I mean i didn't commit the crime it was committed against me I can't get even a minimum wage job. The on paper thing is a reason to *not* help me. If I was in a marginalized group you wouldn't even need the paper it would just be like oh you are marginalized that's a reason to help you. So no I disagree.

I'm sorry, but no. I've met people from marginalized communities who've been victims and many of them get little to no help whatsoever and have a much harder time accessing resources to get help or justice. That's not even getting into the many cases where people from these communities literally die because impart due to their being a part of these demographics. I'm sorry about what happened to you but that in no way disproves what I've said in my other post. It's also weird to try and claim that "if I was in a marginalized group you wouldn't even need the paper like oh you are marginalized that's a reason to help you" when you are on a site filled with people from marginalized communities who have trouble with accessing help partly because of the fact that they are from these communities.

What i think you are missing is a group called the almost victim. The people who aren't actually victims but are close to it. See i don't believe the world gives a ratsass about helping actual victims. They reserve everything for the almost victim. You almost were a victim oh boy you need so much help while the actual victim languishes. What's sympathy to a victim anyways. You don't want sympathy you want people to do something get you out of whatever hell you are in. You think dude in the article was hoping for people to shout sweet nothings at him or to be let out. Sympathy is meaningless. It's just an excuse for people to not have to do the thing they should.

There are plenty of cases of "almost victims" also not gaining any sympathy and being told that they are making a big deal out of nothing and have their experiences invalidated. Also, sympathy isn't in itself meaningless. It can play a role in motivating people to help others, which is kind of something that you want if you were a victim of something. It's not an excuse, it's a type of emotion that we feel and it's one that plays a role in motivating us to be altruistic.

I really don't think the perp being protected thing is routinely true either. Rarely maybe. I just think people don't give a shshit.

Perpetrators end up being defended by others and are protected all the time. This does happen routinely. Funnily enough, this statement kind of highlights the fact that you are from a privileged background, lol. Just look at how many cases there are of police officers getting off light after harming others, especially Indigenous and black folk, for example. This is far from a rare occurrence and is a common topic among victims of abuse, discrimination, rape, etc. Saying that it's just that "people don't give a shit" is insulting to people who have experienced shit like this before.

Again rewarded is a weird term. No one is rewarded for being a victim. You just hope things are made right. The almost victim has nothing to lose. They don't get sympathy who cares they weren't anyways. It's house money basically.

I'm using the term "rewarded" because that's the term that you used in your original post.

Fascinating how playing the victim gets you rewarded.

 

[brokeandbroken]

By marginalized communities, I'm referring to communities that face systematic oppression, such as the LGBTA+ community and the BIPOC community.

So you have people that spend there time looking for reasons not to help you. Those are reason *to* help you. In fact they are politically sexy reasons to in 2025. Helping a white guy boring. Not sexy at all. When's the last time you saw someone string up a mission accomplished banner because they helped a white guy. Happens all the time for those communities. Those are the victims people actually want to help. Could make your career. Catapult you to a cushy cable news job.

I'm sorry, but no. I've met people from marginalized communities who've been victims and many of them get little to no help whatsoever and have a much harder time accessing resources to get help or justice. That's not even getting into the many cases where people from these communities literally die because impart due to their being a part of these demographics. I'm sorry about what happened to you but that in no way disproves what I've said in my other post. It's also weird to try and claim that "if I was in a marginalized group you wouldn't even need the paper like oh you are marginalized that's a reason to help you" when you are on a site filled with people from marginalized communities who have trouble with accessing help partly because of the fact that they are from these communities.

Except most of the resources *for* help are only available for them. I lived in the middle of the ghetto in one of the most dangerous areas of my state. Do you know how many legal advice clinics specified they wouldn't help white men. A lot. It's intersectionality literally. There's a spectrum of your value. Jews lare second from the bottom and a non insignificant amount of people want to see them put in the gas chambers again. Then you have straight white men below them. You literally have people saying you are white man because of that alone I won't help you. Everyone's cool with it. If I opened up a business tomorrow I don't know maybe a wedding cake shop and didn't want LGBTQIA to shop there I'd be crucified. If I opened a business and said no black people I can't even come up with an outcome hellish enough for what I'd have to endure.

So no Those are big sexy political string up the mission accomplished banner I'm coming to save you reasons to help someone. Marc Fogel white man arrested before Griner for the exact same crime in Russia. Griner got the merchant of death, and big ole welcome home party, interviews, probably a book deal, and numerous political photo ops and was released before Fogel. She's a black Lesbian. Fogel white man only just recently got released barely made the news. He wasn't even listed as wrongfully detained only August of 2024 3 years after his arrest. Griner had that declaration pretty much immediately.

Simply put those topics are cool en vogue and big sexy I'll get off the couch make your political career reasons to help someone not the opposite. So no you are wrong.

There are plenty of cases of "almost victims" also not gaining any sympathy and being told that they are making a big deal out of nothing and have their experiences invalidated. Also, sympathy isn't in itself meaningless. It can play a role in motivating people to help others, which is kind of something that you want if you were a victim of something. It's not an excuse, it's a type of emotion that we feel and it's one that plays a role in motivating us to be altruistic.

Sure but they aren't victims so why does it matter they absolutely shouldn't be. Because they aren't victims.

Sympathy is meaningless if you can do something. Those marginalized groups above. You think they want sympathy or someone to do something?

it absolutely does not motivate others. Humans dont work that way it's the bystander effect. Look up the case of Kitty Genovese. 38 witnesses whole lot of sympathy man what a poor girl. Yet no one did anything.

Sympathy? If you are a victim and struggling you probably want a hand out of hell not symapthy for what you are going through.

i think it is the opposite. It's an excuse to not be altruistic. Man I felt bad for that person I'm such a good person. End of thought moving on to the next unrelated thought.

Perpetrators end up being defended by others and are protected all the time. This does happen routinely. Funnily enough, this statement kind of highlights the fact that you are from a privileged background, lol. Just look at how many cases there are of police officers getting off light after harming others, especially Indigenous and black folk, for example. This is far from a rare occurrence and is a common topic among victims of abuse, discrimination, rape, etc. Saying that it's just that "people don't give a shit" is insulting to people who have experienced shit like this before.

Does it happen rarely. All the time don't be ridiculous. The amount of time who have the resources and capital to be protected is very small.

I have looked at the statistics in my state the outlying number is... Chemicals used. Slightly more likely to use tear gas, pepper spray, etc... Thats it.

This is dramatically overblown for political purposes. Tyre Nichols may be one of the most brutal murders I've ever watched. It barely made the news. Why because it was a bunch of black police officers on a black guy. In what was a personal killing something to do with a girlfriend I think? Wasn't sexy wasn't white on black so it was politically advantageous to talk about.

Hell you had a situation identical to floyd before Floyd with a white guy who was schizophrenic and called 911 for help. The court ruled for the officers. White man same situation except he *called* for help. Not politically advantageous so you didnt hear about it.

Also for the record I've actually experienced racism/nationalism? Literally i won't talk with you because you are American while in medical school. I will only talk to Poles.

Youve proved my point you basically went sucks went happened to you but... theres lgbtia/bipoc who really need help. It's preposterous this is even a conversation. It should be on merits alone. You have people picking and choosing who to help on immutable characteristics.

I'm using the term "rewarded" because that's the term that you used in your original post

I also said victims aren't rewarded in fact it was implied they are punished. I said playing the victim particularly as an almost victim gets you rewarded with the reward being sympathy which is the lifeblood they live on.

 

[NonEssential]

Funny how I like to avoid saying I'm depressed or suicidal just because I'm not officially diagnosed with it. Even though I'm pretty actively researching methods.