Some nights ago, I was watching a video about Nigeria's treatment towards people with poor mental health. Did you know that one in four Nigerians suffer from mental illness? Which is quite terrifying considering that mental health care is actually very expensive and scarce in Nigeria. This is because mental health facilities lack government funding. The lack of funds affects the hospitals' staff, patients, and care tactics. The facilities look more like overpopulated prisons than nice hospitals. With all of this mess going on, it essentially affects the patients the most. Many patients in mental health facilities across Nigeria are actually chained and abused. As to their families knowing of the facility conditions before admitting them, I don't know. However, it is terribly sad how one can say they want to help or feel empathetic; but when it's time to help the very same people are either cruel or disregard the illness.
Because of this, I decided to do a mini-series on mental health. I want to bring genuine awareness and tips to mental health and touch on how mental health is super important, but tends to be overlooked in a lot of communities. Now to begin this series, I want to touch on how our generation has been inconsistent with their views on mental illness; and if you're wondering what I'm talking about, I'm talking about how people have been attacking Summer Walker. I find it funny how in 2018 and 2019 people have brought so much attention to mental illnesses―mainly depression and anxiety. Yet, once Summer opened up about her social anxiety and visibly shows us how shy she can be, people began to turn on her.
Summer Walker for Clash Magazine (2019)
Sometime in mid-November, Summer Walker had announced on social media that she would be cancelling a number of tour dates due to her social anxiety. This was after she was criticized for not being as interactive with her fans during the meet and greets. Prior to this announcement, Summer had already mentioned her social anxiety a number of times. One instance was during her performance on the Tiny Desk Concert stage. During her time on the stage, her passion can be felt through her sultry singing voice. However, when she wasn't singing, the volume of her voice would minimize to that of a mice―evidently soft spoken. Also, you can see that she's holding onto a pink stuffed animal throughout her time on the stool. At the end of her performance, she told the audience that she was super excited to be on TDC's platform, but that she has really bad social anxiety; and that that is the reason she can seem shy and timid in front of crowds. Personally, I felt her and for her during the whole performance because I understand what it's like to have social anxiety. Although my level of social anxiety is not as bad anymore, everyone's level of anxiety is different.
Now my question is this: why is Summer's decision such a bad one? In that moment on Tiny Desk Concert, and all the other instances that Summer had mentioned her social anxiety, people seemed to be understanding of what she's going through. Fast forward to when she cancelled a number of tour dates, the very same people who appeared to be sympathetic ended up turning against her. But it's okay for her to constantly feel almost terrified while performing for crowds as long as the people are benefitting right? Some people went as far as to call her social anxiety a hoax―completely disregarding all the signs she's presented in the past.
I think people forget the fact that is, Summer Walker is a human being before anything else. Yes, she has a voice that touches the inner depths of our souls and it has brought her a platform where she's able to share that gift. However, it should never have to feel forced to where she has to compromise her mental. If anything, I think Summer Walker is brave for being so upfront about it while being a celebrity because of how harsh fame can be. People tend to disregard the human qualities and see famous people as strictly entertainers.
Another thing people forget is that stars like Robert Williams and Anthony Bourdain have taken their lives because they weren't able to find a happy/comfortable balance between their talents/passion and their mental health. When they passed away, social media was filled with mental health posts. People spoke on how important it was to always put your mental health first, to check in on your friends more often, and to learn how to comfort friends with mental illnesses. So it upsets me to see people so quick to attack Summer Walker. I understand the money aspect of it for sure, but it's not like people are not getting refunds. So, why continue to perpetuate anger towards a young woman who already has battles of her own; and on top of that is being super vulnerable about it.
The main thing I want to take away from this, is that I hope that our generation, one day, gravitates more towards action than awareness. Not saying awareness is not enough, because it definitely is. Awareness is the reason we are able to know what is going on in places that the news wouldn't typically cover. However, when it comes to things such as mental health, people should add action behind the awareness. People should learn to actually practice what they post, instead of just being social media activists―meaning they are only active on social media. At the end of the day, awareness is nothing without some sort of effective action following it.
Remember to spread love. The world is already chaotic as is for us to be giving out negative energy.
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