One of my dearest friends has been struggling with her mental health for many years. A few weeks ago, she called me on the phone and during the conversation we discussed invisible illnesses. In her experience, every time that she has to talk about her mental health she is repeatedly faced with the same type of comment: "you don't look as if you were ill." The image that we have been sold of how a person dealing with mental health issues looks like has always been of a deranged person locked down in an asylum. And this is the reason why so many people struggling with their mental health are afraid of being open about it.
This has never been more obvious than last week, after Vogue Portugal decided to feature on their July 2020 cover an image depicting a troubled young lady being washed by two nurses in what looks like a psychiatric hospital. The Vogue Portugal team named the issue "The Madness Issue" and the copy on the cover reads "It's Summer Outside."
According to a statement from Vogue Portugal on Twitter, their intention was to shine a light on this important issue and open up a discussion about Mental Health. But, nothing in the creative direction of this issue points towards an honest and positive conversation about the topic.
Starting with the name of the issue: The Madness Issue. I searched in different dictionaries the definition of the word madness, trying to find one meaning that didn't have a negative connotation. But all that I could find were definitions like "a state of severe mental illness —not used technically", "The state of being mentally ill, especially severely", or "insanity."
If the intention was to take the stigma out of the conversations about Mental Health, they could have named the issue "The Self-care Issue", "The Wellbeing Issue" or simply "The Mental Health Issue".
Secondly, the copy on the cover: "It's Summer Outside." On their statement, Vogue Portugal wrote that they were trying to address human behaviour during the pandemic confinement. It is true that the global collective experience during these last few months has had an important toll on our mental health. But, instead of sending a supportive and optimistic message to their readers, the creative direction of the magazine opted for slapping us on the face. "It's Summer Outside", while you are trapped inside with your own fears.
A more helpful copy, one that could have also highlighted human behaviour during the pandemic, could have spoken about resilience and how this whole situation is temporary. "This Too Shall Pass", "We Will Get Over This" or "This Won't Last Forever".
Lastly, the cover image. How do you visually convey a topic like Mental Health? Well, as my friend pointed out over the phone during our conversation, you put a person who apparently doesn't have any illnesses nor disabilities on the cover and you say "This Is What Struggling With Your Mental Health Looks Like."
Mental Health problems belong to a group of conditions called invisible illnesses, according to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An invisible illness is one that does not show any visible signs nor symptoms to others. This makes it really difficult for whoever is struggling with their mental health because help is not often given to someone who doesn't appear to need it. What's more, as an ally, how can you identify if someone is in need of support if you can't tell just by looking at them?
It is this lack of understanding of how mental health issues work that leads to some people associating mental health to images of insanity or madness. And this makes it really difficult for someone to open up about their struggles for fear of being labelled as crazy or weak.
All of the above makes me question the good intentions of the publication, even if the statement they released before pulling the issue out from the newsstands says otherwise. It feels to me that they were just trying to be amongst the trending topics of the day, even if it were for the wrong reasons.
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