I'M THE VILLAIN

71. The Mental Health Stigma Episode: When Depression is Trendy, but Schizophrenia Is Not


Listen Later

Internet culture has made depression and anxiety in vogue, with brands marketing their "Depression" and "Anxiety" necklaces and graphic tees. But when was the last time you say "Schizoaffective disorder" on a T-shirt? We talk to Shreye, who you heard on the Effective Altruism and Financial Inclusion episodes, about what it's like having Schizoaffective Disorder and how there is still widespread stigma for the more serious mental health disorders in the broader public, even as it is now commonplace to tweet about having social anxiety.


It really is pretty crazy to think about how almost glorified mental health has been in our culture (think Romeo and Juliet) while at the same time so utterly deprioritized by our government on all levels. What if we actually had regular interventions for children experiencing mental health episodes in schools, especially schools with high percentages of low-income kids? What if, after we closed all the asylums in the 90s, we had actually replaced them with real mental health facilities instead of prisons?

Some super fascinating and HIGHLY recommended links:

WebMD video we talk about at the beginning where a woman with schizophrenia describes her experience: https://youtu.be/C7Jl9_59tfY

Video of Anderson Cooper trying out a schizophrenia simulator: https://youtu.be/yL9UJVtgPZY

Video where a woman with schizophrenia evaluates whether different schizophrenia simulators are realistic or not: https://youtu.be/60n7ZP3Cj-4

[Article] Trust Me, Having a Mental Illness Isn’t Fashionable
[Article] Is Talking About Your Mental Health Trendy

[Article] How being sad, depressed, and anxious online became trendy

[Article] Article about the Deinstitutionalization of asylums in the 90s and its long-term effects on prisons and homelessness

[Article] HuffPo listicle of funny tweets about having depression

An example of a graphic tee about depression

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

I'M THE VILLAINBy Isabel Knight & Deondre' Jones

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

41 ratings