Over 40,000 Americans commit suicide every year and the death of Mac Miller, a young and well known rapper, has scarily reminded us how real this statistic is. His unexpected death created an uproar from young music fans who are using social media to seriously question the ways in which we discuss mental health. The shock and heartbreak of losing someone so special has reminded people of why this topic is so important. Miller’s music was a personal look into his mind and the struggles he faced with depression and drugs throughout his lifetime. Despite all of this, we did nothing to help. Although we are a distant community that has no real impact on Miller’s life, our conversation and discussion about him and his messages were an ignorant acceptance of his depression as something intrinsic to his music. We need to completely reconstruct how we treat mental health for those who are continuing to struggle with it and those who have passed away due to it.
Miller was always very open about his challenges with mental health in his music and interviews. His most recent album “Swimming,” has references to feeling alone and his willingness to do “anything for a way out of [his] head” (“Come Back to Earth”). With hindsight, these lyrics were red flags and revealed what was going on in Miller’s head leading up to his overdose.
As consumers, we watch interviews and listen to these lyrics without thinking anything of it. We are so obsessed with the music and the attractiveness of his vulnerability that we ignore the deep messages that are said through the lyrics. Instead of just praising his talent and artistic ability, we need to also express concern and take action by using social media, such as Twitter, to speak on our own experiences with mental health and express our disapproval with romanticized depictions of mental health issues. Second-year student Emily Herrera expresses her distraught with how people treated Miller prior to his death stating that “his reactions and emotions [to his ex girlfriend Ariana Grande’s, engagement] were exploited and no one had any regard for how he was feeling.” Instead we just eagerly anticipated lyrics full of heartbreak on his new album. While his lyrics are poetic and beautiful, we cannot accept the subliminal suicidal messages as something normal within the music industry.
After Miller’s passing, social media platforms were flooded with messages about how important mental health issues are and how we need to check up on our friends more often. However, we must do more.
We need to change the way we view mental health issues in the media. We have normalized and even romanticized the messages we hear within popular culture pertaining to mental health struggles. Especially when it comes to men: if we see any instance of vulnerability, we are enamoured by their sensitivity and ability to express their emotions, given the toxic nature of masculinity in America. Just think of how we treat other male rappers, such as Drake. On social media, we eagerly anticipate his heartbreak so that we can hear more sentimental and sad music. Second-year student Andrew Kitz reflects, “After Miller’s death I was honestly shocked listening back to his album and questioned how no one took his lyrics more seriously.” Our tendency to normalize sadness can often lead to us overlooking when it exceeds sadness and reaches depression or suicidal thoughts.
Another instance is the controversial Netflix series, “13 Reasons Why,” which was created with intentions of spreading awareness of mental illnesses, but instead, told a story that was triggering for many people and romanticized suicidal thoughts. We should not praise being sad or depressed as something of poetic beauty.
These conversations and portrayals have tangible effects on our lives because they affect how seriously we treat these issues in our communities. This is extremely important given the strong presence that mental health issues have, especially on a college campus. The American Psychological Association reported that in 2016 over 50% of college students felt hopeless and 39% were depressed. Therefore, what we say about mental health in the media is directly affecting the people we walk by on campus, the people we have class with, and the friends that we spend all our time with. Not taking mental health seriously can send dangerous messages to others struggling with their mental health because it leads them to believe that their depression is not serious since it is trivialized in the media.
Colleges have severely lacked in mental health resources in the past, but improvements are being made to support students. Northeastern has been working on new ways to help its students with actions such as the Student Government Association’s initiative to create a Husky to Husky peer mental health education program. With the proper dialogue surrounding mental health, we can see more of these changes begin to occur on college campuses.
As college students, we are all trying to find our way and that can be really difficult at times. We need to do more to be there for each other. By creating a serious dialogue about mental health in the media, we can send better messages to those who are struggling and encourage them to get help and lead happier lives. As Mac Miller said, we should all “enjoy the best things things in life ‘cuz you ain’t gonna get to live it twice.”
Sources
https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
https://www.apa.org/advocacy/higher-education/mental-health/index.aspx