Why Is The Media Still Not Able To Respectfully Report About Mental Illness
The media-at-large has never been respectful or even tactful when it comes to the reportage of celebrities who are struggling with personal issues. The standard default seems to require the accompaniment of enough salaciousness to turn their handicap into a gripping soap opera.
As someone who grapples with the challenges of depression, it’s been a horrifying experience to witness the gross negligence on display when A-listers succumb to the effects of their high-visibility — coupled with the burden of trying to maintain some level of sanity as they fight to dominate an industry that’s eating them alive.
Britney Spears is still ceremoniously mocked for that period in her life when all hell broke loose, and her method of retaliation drew the wrong kind of attention. It was easy to splash the images that depicted her at her most vulnerable, while poking fun at the latest superstar to “lose her shit” — as if her “breakdown” provided a boring performance that wasn’t jarring enough to warrant empathy.
Mariah Carey has also endured journalistic assaults that haunted her during the rollercoaster of her career, at a time when it wasn’t cool for stars to openly discuss the taboo subject of mental health. The interviews that depicted a vibrant woman seemingly melting on live…
