Meme Culture & Mental Health: Does It Help?
It may surprise you to know that the word “meme” is far from a recent phenomenon. Nor is it the birth child of millennials and influencers. It was actually coined in 1976 by a controversial evolutionary biologist in his book, The Selfish Gene. Richard Dawkins used the term “meme” in parallel meaning to our biological genes - transmitters of information and masters of imitation. Unlike genes however, memes are transmittors of cultural value.
You and I likely now have a much narrower and popularised perception of memes in that they are an image, video or piece of text that spreads rapidly and widely online. There will be millions of memes flying around the internet at any one time, ever-evolving so that they stay on trend. You’d be hard pressed to spend any time on social media without seeing a meme or two and there are plenty of dedicated instagram accounts boasting a following of six-figures or more.
This is also true for the more recent explosion of mental health memes. But why have they become so popular?
Memes are a funny, witty and sometimes outright nonsensical means of highlighting a titbit of our human experience. They are a classic case of shared observational humour, taking an everyday phenomenon and drawing our attention to it in the cold light of day in a way that says “hey, did you notice this thing - isn’t it weird”. The phrase “it’s funny because it’s true” springs to mind.
But to reduce memes to simply ‘comedy content’ would be unfair. Mental Health memes have a valuable role in starting conversations. In the age of digital we are, more and more, using the sending of images to communicate with one another. I would hazard a guess that, on average, I send a #relatable meme directly to another person at least once a day. At least. Usually more. And most of the time I don’t need to say anything else, but it’s all there, in that image.
I am also partial to an Instagram story re-share if they are particularly good, which kills anywhere between two-hundred to 300 birds with one conversation-starting stone, so to speak.
A meme can also help us to express thoughts and feelings we aren’t able to articulate in our own voice. Whether it’s because we’re not ‘out’ as someone who is comfortable speaking openly about their mental health, or because we simply do not understand how to put our past or present experiences into words, memes are a tool for communicating.
The stigma and shame which exists around the mental health conversation is still acutely felt by many. To engage with content that discusses mental health but is created by somebody else is to protect oneself from the stigma. Where mental health stigma is the monster under the bed, memes are the safety blanket.
Of course it makes sense that the memes we find most hilarious are the ones we find most relatable. There is something strangely comforting about having someone hold a mirror up to your deepest, darkest, mental health struggle and reflect it back to you as a 240-character tongue-in-cheek witticism that’s gone viral. To know that even one other person out there in the big wide world is thinking or feeling the same way as we are is an extremely powerful thing. Not feeling alone, particularly in the mental health arena, can be a game changer. In that sense, I can’t fault the internet for its ability to connect people through shared experiences and Gene Wilder memes.
We are perhaps in a better place societally with regards to mental health awareness having a seat at the table, for example in 2020 the UK government launched the Every Mind Matters campaign and in 2021 went on to appoint Dr. Alex George as Ambassador as Youth Mental Health. And whilst we are yet to see the real-world impact of these implementations, I’m willing to chalk these up as small steps in the right direction.
But this reliance on getting laughs from self-deprecating humour is arguably not achieving the most favourable outcome. If what we’re looking for is more meaningful conversations around mental health and mental illness, conversations free from stigma, embarrassment or shame, we may not yet be striking quite the right balance between meme culture being an encouragement and a deterrent. Whilst humour can bring lightness to the topic, it also runs the risk of gatekeeping the serious conversations.
For someone at the very beginning of their journey of exploring their mental health, we run the risk that their earliest conversation and experiences teach you that humour is a prerequisite to the mental health conversation. As a result, you may not learn how, or may be less inclined, to initiate more sincere conversations when needed, with friends, family or health professionals. This is a particular worry for younger generations who are arguably much more likely to be first exposed to the mental health conversation online than with those close to them in the real world. But there’s more. With little room for nuance or depth, are we sure that the version of mental health, wellbeing and illnesses portrayed in memes and other online media is true, objective, accurate or even helpful?
I have been talking about mental health online for a few years now and memes are still a well used resource in my arsenal for normalising the topic of mental health. Mental health and mental illness is no laughing matter but I do think memes have a place in challenging stigma and bringing mental health into the public consciousness. Only time will tell if Dawkin’s theory is correct and the rise in memes will shape our perception of mental health in generations to come for the better.
For now, let memes be the appetiser and enjoy them, but we shouldn’t forget to also hold space for the heavier stuff that’s cooking too.
Written by Molly Williams
Hello! I’m Molly - or ‘Moll’ to most. I’m a 26-year old, originally from Devon, currently living in Bristol. I work full-time in social media marketing, but I am also a qualified personal trainer. It's this knowledge which I now use to inform my writing, where I try to share a slightly different, more positive, approach to fitness and wellbeing.
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