Through your social media feeds, you’re certainly familiar with memes such as a preoccupied boyfriend or a woman screeching at a cat. Memes are typically playful and amusing, although there is a rising number of mental health-related memes, particularly so-called depression memes, that portray sorrow, tragedy, suicide, even sadness.
Even though some people may find those memes upsetting, the research indicated that persons with depression appreciate memes that are related to their mental health concerns. This could be due to the fact that people with depression utilize humor in a particular perspective – partly due to the particular way in which a person having depression manages their negative feelings.
Researchers intended to see if depressed people might relate to depressing memes because humor can help us regulate our emotions. Although memes can raise awareness of depression as a global problem, their primary objective is to be entertaining or fascinating rather than to be educational. The experts emphasized the necessity of raising knowledge about depression and removing the stigma associated with it in order for depressed people to seek help.
Whereas the association between memes and depression isn’t clear, memes may be able to assist those suffering from depression and help them in understanding that they’re not alone in their struggle. This may make them feel better.
Dark humor
Dark humor may have been a sort of cognitive reappraisal for sad people. Cognitive reappraisal describes how an individual alters their perception of a circumstance that has occurred to them.
Sometimes people can shift their perception of an unpleasant idea or experience by a focus on the main events that occurred from their day. Rather than comparing their bad thoughts and emotions towards something that could’ve been worse, depressed people relate their negative emotions to anything that could’ve been worse. And it’s here that the simple visuals come in handy. You can go to Meme Scout and explore a wide range of memes ranging from funny to sarcasm.
How memes help
Feeling meaningless, experiencing little interest in such things that were once fun, having difficulty communicating their feelings, or fearing being perceived as a burden by others are all common signs of mental illness, which can make socializing challenging. Depressed persons can use memes to easily convey their experiences, potentially allowing them to develop socially supportive and emotional ties with others. It could also make people feel less isolated in their depression.
Memes are relatable
Another factor that contributes to the virality of humor is relatability. A meme’s meaning should be decipherable by a large number of individuals in order for it to be widely circulated. As a result, these day-to-day problems, however ordinary or terrible they may be, are strong subjects to represent. Memes about serious matters like mental diseases have a higher chance of becoming viral if they are funny and bizarre while referencing the audience’s shared experiences.
Nowadays, memes have taken over social media, where users spent their entire day scrolling through several memes and sharing them.