![]() ‘Trauma is about shame and secrecy’īessel van der Kolk is laughing. ![]() “I think it’s beneficial for people to know they’re not alone … often people don’t have friends or family talking about abuse, neglect, domestic partner violence or feelings generally,” says Taylor.Īt their best, these memes help sufferers process the things that have happened to them in a safe way, helping them to confront difficult issues without being exposed or triggered – like a visual diary, or even a form of exposure therapy. “The main motivation was healing myself, but I think ultimately allowed others space to heal themselves, too.” ![]() “I used my meme page as an attempt to process what was going on with my life, from cutting out my father to processing childhood trauma,” she says. Many accounts tend to be knowingly subversive and ironic, such as this meme from mental health meme queen “Being mentally ill is a full-time job and I’m getting employee of the month.” “I feel so seen,” I think, when I log into Instagram and am confronted by a meme about self-sabotage. ![]() And with this new enthusiasm for mental health memes come questions: Does their proliferation risk watering down the terminology? Should we worry about people self-diagnosing online? And do we risk opening up the mental health conversation to cynical commercial interests? Memes as exposure therapy Though I am mostly recovered, seeing words that once were used clinically to describe my illness splashed all over the internet is certainly an adjustment – especially when they are used thoughtlessly. It has now become so ubiquitous that it’s been co-opted by the political right as an example of leftwing oversensitivity – see Donald Trump Jr’s book of the same name. The most obvious example is the use of the word “triggered”, which was originally used to describe the way the brains of people with PTSD react when re-exposed to something that recalls the original trauma and puts them in fight-or-flight mode. You’re as likely to find references to PTSD on Instagram as you are on a medical website, and mental health memes in particular have been on the increase in fact, their preponderance has been unmistakable during the pandemic. Audiences who like comics such as this one typically have experienced or can relate to the situation being depicted in the comic, which makes it extremely funny.Fast forward to 2021 and the word “trauma” is everywhere. This is an extremely annoying and frustrating situation that I can certainly relate to, hence why I chose this particular rage comic as an example. The string of his sweatshirt got messed up and was forced back into the sweatshirt during the wash cycle. Yet, the third picture shows the rage-inducing moment in the comic strip. From the simple four images that are drawn, the audience can determine that he was successful in washing his blue sweatshirt. The comic strip above shows a man who is about to complete the simply task of doing laundry. ![]() Some faces and people are used to show grief, screaming, disappointment, or just outright rage. This category of comics uses characters from an array of well-know faces and people. A rage comic is a type of comic that depicts a relatable scene using hand drawn, stick figure people. The above image is a perfect example of what is commonly known as a rage comic. ![]()
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