Rapunzel waited until Lydia was safely out of the bungalow before posting. If there ever was a more obvious metaphor of being behind bars for him feeling confined and restricted in life.
I do think it’s positive that influencers are highlighting mental health issues especially when these are exacerbated with the ongoing public health crisis. I do have concern however with those like Lydia who jump on the mental health bandwagon by exaggerating their own experiences solely for their own agenda. Lydia evidently does this to generate attention, sympathy and hook her audience by playing the ‘poor bleeping little me’ narrative. She hopes this will make her stay relevant and relatable. She did this with the homeless sleep out, but completely minimised the issue by acting like it was a slumber party. Then with the Australian bushfires and support the NHS movements, but never followed up with the charity sale or care packages.
This actually does more harm than good. She’s trivialising those with genuine mental health issues. Her younger followers who legitimately seek support online may face unfair and distressing criticism that they are also jumping onto the same publicity bandwagon by ‘sadfishing’. This rejection can damage their already fragile self-esteem and even result in them becoming more vulnerable to online sexual exploitation as groomers will prey on their emotional hardship and naivety.
Lydia needs to grow the duck up and gain a set of balls. Yes, social media is a double edged sword, but she can’t expect to put her entire unedited life online without criticism. We all face criticism, it’s a normal human reaction which actually aids us to grow and develop. However, Lydia completely lacks self-regulation, resilience, maturity and identity. We see this with her constant negative hollaback commentary with her followers and with her constant re-decorating of the bungalow to keep up with or outdo her peers. Ultimately, these positive attributes are what influencers like Lydia with her platform should be promoting amongst their followers to help them deal with the pitfalls of life which we all experience. Then I feel they would genuinely be making a positive impact on this truly saddening mental health epidemic rather than simply hindering it.
