As a gay, young, black man, Kevin Abstract discusses his own personal struggles with his race and sexuality in many of his songs. Besides creating a feeling of safety and validation among his fanbase, his songs also expose Brockhampton’s listeners to topics of depression, self harm, LGBTQ+ issues, and racism.
Read MoreNeither fame, brilliance, community, or acclaim can protect a person from the fierce grip of addiction. It’s easy to blame the addict instead of the addiction, but addiction causes people to engage in harmful behaviors despite the consequences. Though Basquiat is gone, his work, almost hieroglyphic in nature, stays behind as a transmission of his vision, his brilliance, and his struggle.
Read MoreHoping to normalize the conversation surrounding mental health, Zucker asked his fan base to share with him stories regarding their personal struggles with mental illness and how it has affected them. As someone who struggles with mental well-being, Zucker wanted to use his platform as a songwriter to reach out to those who are also struggling and show them that they are not alone.
Read MoreAnuradha Bhagwati was born to a conservative Indian family. Since her mother was a professor at Columbia and her father an MIT professor, she grew up in a world of academia and high expectations. She felt a sense of suffocation under the control of her parents. Overcome by the need to find herself and have control of her body, Anuradha dropped out of an Ivy League graduate school, much to her parents’ dismay, and joined the Marines.
Read MoreIn light of the much-anticipated release of the new and final Avengers film, it is important to look at the ways in which embodying a character, both physically and psychologically, can affect an actor or actress. Though portraying a heroic or fantastical character can be emboldening and empowering, playing the villain can also be damaging, an after-effect experienced by Michael B. Jordan.
Read MoreAlongside her work both in advocating for increased diversity in entertainment and for environmental conservation, Condor is also passionate about positive perceptions of body image. Before she became serious about acting, Condor was classically trained in ballet and contemporary dance. It was a competitive environment to grow up in, and the pressure to look and perform a certain way inevitably affected her own body image.
Read MoreEvans revealed that his anxiety almost kept him from accepting the role of Captain America. He knew that the press and a large amount of public speaking would be involved in becoming Cap, and he knew that his anxiety would be very loud in this environment. After talking to his friends, family, and therapist, he said, “It started to feel like maybe the thing you’re most scared of is exactly what you should do.”
Read MoreThis notion of required proof of authenticity highlights how this speculation is highly problematic in nature. This speculation dissociates Sylvia Plath’s experiences as a human struggling with mental health issues from how the public viewed Sylvia Plath as an artist and icon. It is never required for one to authenticate one’s experiences in order for such experiences to be deemed valid or of artistic valuable, and this is especially so with mental health struggles.
Read MoreAlthough most of Mendes’ songs in his first two albums are centered around relationships and romance, the experiences he drew from were very ambiguous. However, his self-titled 2018 album brings something different. His song ‘In My Blood’ contains emotional lyrics, including: “Help me, it’s like the walls are caving in. Sometimes I feel like giving up, no medicine is strong enough, someone help me, I’m crawling in my skin.”
Read MoreIn an interview with Apple music, Eilish revealed that, “Depression has controlled sort of like everything in my life, for my whole life” and that she has always been a melancholy person. She explains that it is okay to feel sad all the time and that it is experienced differently by other people, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Read MoreJonah Hill now uses his platform to speak out about the struggles he encountered, both in the past and present, showing the world that body image is an issue for everyone, regardless of gender, profession, or age.
Read MoreJamil reported that she felt “bombarded” by images of how the ideal woman should look and act, even during a time where this narrative wasn’t instantly available in the palm of your hand. One additional factor at play was a lack of alternative role models.
Read MoreAside from being proud Michigan alumni, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are composers primarily known for their work in Dear Evan Hansen, a musical that highlights the life of a high school teen and his community following a classmate’s suicide.
Read MoreLady Gaga became the face for mental illness at the 2019 Grammys with her inspiring and emotionally raw speech that took a twist, both literally and figuratively, on the hearts of the millions who connected with her message. Upon receiving the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her duet “Shallow” with Bradley Cooper, Gaga quickly moved past the typical statements of appreciation to God, her family, costars, and industry personnel to a reflective statement regarding the film that produced “Shallow.”
Read MoreClifford Beers is widely regarded as the pioneer of the “American mental hygiene movement.” This movement began when Beers learned he was suffering from bipolar disorder while working on Wall Street. This eventually led him to attempt suicide and spend years in and out of hospitals. Beers’ firsthand experience with a lack of proper treatment for mental health in hospitals spurred his work in the field.
Read MoreWhen the world lost Chester Bennington, people were shocked and appalled despite the vocalist having openly and publicly discussed his mental health struggles in interviews. Even by listening to popular songs such as “Crawling” and “Numb,” it was clear that these lyrics were portraying the demons that Bennington, the writer of the songs, faced.
Read MoreIn her 2008 commencement speech at Harvard, Rowling relates the monstrous Dementors to depression as “[t]hey [Dementors] infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them… Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you.”
Read MoreDon Draper, the face of the award-winning AMC series Mad Men, is a man of many emotional issues. And he’s not alone. Jon Hamm, the outstanding actor behind the drama’s protagonist, has had his fair share of struggles over the years as well. But there is one big difference between the character and the actor: Jon Hamm is willing to talk about it.
Read MorePsychological effects are common in prisoners, and even more so in persons in solitary confinement, such as El Chapo. Prosecutors argue that the harsh conditions are necessary because of El Chapo’s history of running his drug empire from behind bars, as well as his previous escape from two maximum-security prisons.
Read MoreAfter reading various interviews with Downey, he can begin to come off as dismissive and aloof; however, who am I or anyone else to ask him to speak on behalf of someone else’s recovery process. Downey is also 53 years old, and of another generation than the myriad of young celebrities we currently see speaking out about mental health.
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