Escaping depression and toxic positivity with 'trauma memes'
Gen Z, “the loneliest generation”, has found a way to process pervading depression and toxic positivity, and find solace in community: with trauma memes.
When you think about what this group are dealing with; trying to find themselves, find love, build careers and lives with purpose - with the ongoing chaos around them; it’s not hard to see why there’s a mental health crisis happening amongst them right now.
We’ve all experienced, at some point, the pressure to heal quickly, override the pain and find the silver lining when life has handed us lemons; we’re expected to let it go and ‘get over it’ because our being affected with all the hard emotions makes others uncomfortable.
There can be an expectation that we need to rush through it and get back to being our ‘usual’ selves. Or worse, compartmentalise it and only present our shiny side in the company of others. This is exactly what toxic positivity is and it’s harmful to our mental health.
There’s definitely a lot more mental wellness content falling into social feeds these days. Turns out, the dissolving of this stigma on social forums, and publicly acknowledging and embracing the messy feels, is giving young people life-saving perspective and connection. 🙌🏽
“There’s no pinning down the exact reason why Zers are struggling, but experts reference a confluence of contributing factors, including coming of age at a time of financial instability, frequent instances of gun violence aimed at their cohort, climate anxiety, and now the impact of COVID-19 on their experiences of high school, college, and early adulthood.”
“Processing is about being able to experience these emotions at a level we can tolerate. If the trauma evokes such a strong emotional negative reaction that we’re overwhelmed, we’re not able to heal. Memes can be one way of trying to trying to process the emotion.”
