Mental Health

- Annie Brookstone

We live in acutely pressured times, where c0lleagues try to out-stress one another and friends throw around words like OCD, anxiety and depression with abandon. Has mental health become the latest battleground for social competitiveness? Annie Brookstone investigates

It's a typical Sunday afternoon, you’ve returned home from a pub lunch and are curled up on the sofa trying to bat away the Sunday blues, while blocking out the fact that in just a few hours you’ll be back at your desk. You take out your phone for an idle Instagram scroll and come across a meme that makes you laugh; it’s a stock image of a woman weeping with the words ‘The feeling when even your depression has depression’ written across it in bold white. You double-tap and forward it on to your work wife, who replies with three crying emojis.

Over the past decade, the world has evolved more rapidly than at any other period in history, in many ways for the better – video tutorials on how to bleach your hair now exist rather than having to chance it with Sun In, you can order katsu curry from that tiny Japanese joint in town with the click of a button and, increasingly, mental health is a topic discussed openly and with compassion, rather than hidden and battled in private.

Luxuries our parents’ generation was deprived of – there are even dates dedicated to opening up about wellbeing, such as Time To Talk Day in February. Celebrities such as Demi Lovato, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Russell Brand frequently speak out about their struggles with conditions such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder – and, in turn, give the green light to a million voices to respond with: ‘Yes, that’s how I feel, too!’ The corporate landscape has also changed, with bosses who acknowledge mental health issues praised in public.

Common misuse