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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

opinion

COLUMN: Depression shouldn't be a fad

Depression is the new craze, right?

I couldn’t believe when I read several tweets discussing how depression is the new fad.

These series of tweets came after the recent news of Kanye West being hospitalized due to his extreme depression and paranoia causing situational 
psychosis.

Kanye is not the first celebrity to admit to suffering from a mental illness this year.

Many mixed responses, including support, confusion and even blatant disrespect for Kanye and his illness, have come since his hospitalization.

Lady Gaga recently 
revealed she has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder during an interview with the Today Show.

Celebrities, now more than ever, feel they can share with the public what is going on in their lives. Yes, we have seen their personal lives for years and years, but this is a new form of personal.

There has always been a stigma against mental illness, and it is obviously not going away any time soon. Despite this, people are 
trying to bring awareness to mental illnesses such as 
depression and anxiety.

Fans, especially, have been supportive of celebrities. They often are able to relate to their idols who suffer from the same or similar illnesses.

The popular response to people opening up about their depression or anxiety is saying “Go outside,” “Don’t be sad,” or “It’s not that bad.” Most of the people who respond this way have probably never suffered from depression, or if they have, they received the same 
responses.

People wonder why the youth today are so sad or dramatic but refuse to ask what causes them to feel this way or acknowledge that they may have a part of it.

It’s almost shocking to read about different traumas that affect young teenagers and lead to the crippling combination of anxiety and depression.

A combination of environment, heritability and life choices affects how susceptible teenagers and young adults are to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.

Seventy-five percent of people who have suffered from anxiety say they had their first experience with the mental illness by the age of 22.

I don’t want to say every college student deals with anxiety on a daily basis, but a vast majority deal with it frequently.

Depression and anxiety may be the most common ones to occur among young adults, but more disorders and mental illnesses can result if they are left untreated or if more stress is added.

Of course, some illnesses are biological and hereditary, but they are 
typically triggered by one event or another.

Because of this, it is 
important to keep an eye out on the people we love.

We tweet about how we support Kanye West, Kid Cudi and sexual assault survivors like Ke$ha, yet we don’t recognize these same things happening to our loved ones.

I appreciate celebrities coming out and not being afraid to share their need for help with the public. It’s incredibly brave and a great step toward becoming mentally healthy or the best they can be.

Reading up on mental illnesses and how they manifest certainly doesn’t make you an expert or a therapist, but it is helpful so you can understand why your friend may act the way they do.

Let’s not make fun of celebrities or call depression a trend.

Let’s help each other move forward.

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