I love media because it normalizes my problems. It makes me feel like I am not alone with my problems, that they are possible to solve. Seeing people come out of harmful mental states that I occasionally fall into, actually motivates me to keep going knowing that there is a way out. Because there are sometimes situations that your friends or family or the people you generally talk to have not been in, therefore they cannot help you with their experiences. In such situations – as primitive as it sounds – a long, deeply explained and detailed Instagram caption can work wonders. When reading about what an interantionally renowned mid-size model went through in terms of struggles with body image or not meeting internalized body standards but still making it in the industry, still feeling good in her body, it all helps even though you’re not getting the advice from people you personally know.
This next one is a silly example but my brother and I used to get extremely upset because our mom kept reorganising our pan/pot cabinet in the kitchen EVERY Sunday morning and it always woke us up undeniably early. Then we both saw a Tiktok making fun of how all moms do the same thing every Sunday morning and the video got over 2 million likes. So it turned out that plenty of others have the same problem with sleeping in on Sundays and since then, every time this happens to us we just think of it as this comedic scene and we laugh it off.
I think what I’m trying to say is that knowing that you’re not weird for feeling a certain way gives a very nice comfort and eases your problems, let it be a more serious mental issue or even just a small but regular inconvenience.
Why I Heart My Media 