Analysis: Boasting a following of 5.5 million users, the satirical Instagram account @daddyissues_ is a treasure trove of memes that span pop culture, female friendships and mental health. A recent screenshot of a tweet saying, “Going into a spiral anyone want anything”, has struck a chord, garnering more than 1462 comments ranging from laughter emojis to self-deprecating quips like “Literally me at lunch today lmao”.
Mental health memes are a staple on our Instagram feeds. Their unique blend of wit and candour shines a light on everything from low self-esteem to therapy sessions, distilling complex emotions into digestible tidbits of shared experiences.
From having a panic attack at work to anxiety-inducing interactions, if you find yourself sharing these types of memes with your colleagues and friends, you’re not alone. Gen Z and millennials, the generations most likely to spend time on social media or seek treatment or therapy from a mental health professional, are the biggest consumers of these memes. Within this age bracket, there’s certainly a cultural shift towards opening up about mental health struggles, and that’s got to be a good thing.
Auckland-based counsellor Tenisha Kumar says “memes offer a way to discuss something heavy and vulnerability inducing with a sense of humour”. She explains that “laughter has been shown to reduce stress levels, release endorphins, and improve overall mood, so being able to see the humorous side of some events that affect our mental health can provide a lot of relief”.
Memes also help us to relate to our peers. A meme can be a “conversation starter needed to break the ice or a way to offer light relief to a friend during a challenging time,” she says. During the Covid lockdowns, when some people were noticing a decline in their mental health, “memes showed us that even though we were physically isolated from each other, we were still emotionally connected through shared experiences. That feeling of ‘I’m not alone’ can be incredibly therapeutic and may have been the balm for many during such a challenging time”.
If the premise of mental health memes is to make light of illnesses, are they problematic? Take, for example, the one depicting a burglar navigating a laser alarm system, captioned “trying to be honest with my therapist but not so honest that I get involuntarily hospitalised”. Here there’s a delicate balance between humour and the seriousness of a person’s mental state. The humour also makes it ambiguous as to whether the posts are a cry for help or just a way to post edgy content “for the lols”.
Professionals argue that the meme format’s inherent humour blurs the line between normalising and trivialising mental health concerns. Kumar says that while memes can be helpful because they “offer respite from the heavier parts of our existence”, striking a balance can be difficult. “Knowing your audience, timing and respect are important to ensuring they have the intended effect, which is usually to make people laugh,” she says. “However, if memes are providing comedy at the expense of marginalised people or those who are seriously mentally unwell, it may hinder how we see mental health overall.”
Conversely, some individuals view mental health memes as a crucial coping mechanism. Creator Cori Amato Hartwig, speaking to Nylon in 2018, explained that she created the Instagram meme account @ManicPixieMemeQueen “partially out of boredom and partially out of a need to cope with my own mental health issues”. And she says it’s helped her followers, who “feel less alone, more understood, and even more willing to share their own struggles with mental health issues”.
Studies echo Hartwig’s sentiments. A 2022 article in the Humanities and Social Sciences Communications journal found that psychiatrically vulnerable people “report positive experiences when engaging with such memes” in that they “facilitate a humorous take on a negative experience and situation” and create “the perception of peer support through social bonds with others experiencing similar symptoms”.
Similarly, a 2020 study by Scientific Reports found that “despite their negative orientation, internet memes related to depression may be beneficial for individuals experiencing consistent symptoms”.
There’s a certain irony, however, in how we consume memes. We’re primarily engaging in memes via platforms that are notorious for their links to increased risk of depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts — the very conditions these memes make light of.
There is also a case for treading lightly when memes parody misunderstood disorders like OCD and PTSD or medical terms like “triggered” and “psychotic”. The “sad woman” meme that says, “the TV volume is too quiet on 6 and too loud on 8 but 7 is an odd number” is all too relatable, but it minimises how debilitating the condition is for sufferers.
NOCD, a Chicago organisation providing OCD therapy, argues that while humour is vital, it shouldn’t come at the expense of belittling conditions like OCD, in the same way that we wouldn’t trivialise chronic diseases like diabetes or Parkinson’s.
The same goes for the word “triggered”, commonly used in memes as a pejorative term for anyone thought to be quick to take offence. In a medical context, the term refers to a “trigger” — be it a sight, sound, scent or memory — which causes someone to re-experience past traumas.
It’s clear that just a few words and pictures can hold great power, so how we use them in memes can contribute to a more informed, empathetic and supportive discourse around mental health. As Kumar explains, “the potential risk is that we maintain the stigma around these issues because we’re not discussing them seriously, and [they are] possibly seen as mocking other people’s illnesses or wellbeing needs.”
Mental health memes may be both problematic and funny at the same time, but our wellbeing is not a laughing matter. If you’re feeling a little too “seen” or understood by a mental health meme, it might be time to step out from behind your screen and seek professional help.
Where to get help:
If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
· Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
· Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
· Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)
· Youthline – 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
· 0800 What’s Up - 0800 942 8787
· Samaritans – 0800 726 666
· Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or free text 4202 to talk to a trained counsellor, or visit depression.org.nz
· Anxiety New Zealand - 0800 269 4389 (0800 ANXIETY)
· Healthline – 0800 611 116
· Additional specialist helpline links: https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/in-crisis/helplines/
