Mental Health Motivational Speaker - Ryan Brunty

The story of Yerman the Sad Yeti, Depressed Monsters and how depression can aide creativity.

Kanye West and the Issue of Trivializing Mental Illness

June 1, 2018 By Ryan Brunty 2 Comments

Today, Kanye West dropped his eighth studio album, simply entitled Ye.

This release comes hot off the heels of Twitter outbursts, controversial Trump support and years of “is he ‘crazy’ or is he a genius?” speculation and rumors. In typical Kanye fashion, his album surprise dropped with a simple picture of mountains in Wyoming that he supposedly took on the way to the album listening party yesterday with the phrase, “I hate being bipolar it’s awesome.” This phrase is ripped from a mildly popular shirt that came under scrutiny a few years ago and got the likes of Target in trouble for trivializing mental health as a sales tactic. You can read more here.

Upon listening, you immediately realize that this album has a tactic behind it. Kanye is trying to further the conversation about his mental health which should be nothing short of admirable. However, his converstaion points instead come across as forced, phony and downright offensive at times. For example, on the second track, Yikes, Kanye explains “That’s my third party, that’s my bipolar shit. That’s my super power, ain’t no disability.” Which, to be fair, doesn’t actually sound like bipolar but instead schizophrenia. This confusion of mental illnesses is a huge red flag into someone not understanding the differences between disorders.

In all honesty, this doesn’t seem like a man suffering from bipolar or schizophrenia. In fact, it sounds like a man struggling with egomania, which is commonly confused for other disorders but showcases itself with an obsession with oneself and abundant narcissism. This coupled with the fact that he’s talking about murder AND suicide in the same sentence is alarming and a little surprising to be using in such a light context. Labeling Ye as an egomaniac instead of self-proclaimed bipolar also explains his Trump support in recent weeks. He sees Trump, the only other man in history that has been able to push himself as a brand to a higher position than himself, and immediately begins talking about how he wants to run for President. It’s idolizing ego, rather than true purpose.

Now, if Ye is experiencing diagnosed bipolar disorder and/or suicidal thoughts, the way Kanye marginalizes and markets mental illness minimizes those of us actually experiencing mental illness in any capacity. The way he floats in between accepting his mental health and using it as a marketing ploy isn’t “cute” or “cheeky,” it’s dangerous. It teaches young rap fans that mental health isn’t a serious issue and it’s only for making jokes about or using for media hits and press. This is especially confusing since Kanye’s close friend and collaborator, Kid Cudi is outspoken about his battles with depression and has become a sort-of pseudo mental health advocate without formally accepting the mantle.

Furthermore, on the first track, Kanye repeatedly says “If I was trying to relate it to more people, I’d probably say I’m struggling with loving myself because that seems like a common theme, but that’s not the case here. I love myself way more than I love you. And I think about killing myself.” This line especially proves the egomania disorder rather than bipolar and or other mental illness. Without the proper education and/or learnings, Kanye is doomed to keep repeating this misinformation about himself which in turn confuses those that actually have mental illness and/or bipolar and people’s understanding of the illness.

The danger in Kanye trying to tell the masses he has one form of mental illness without properly being diagnosed is that he furthers the stigma of mental disorders. The stigma that it’s better to self medicate and self-evaluate rather than seeing a professional. We can’t progress in this nation without evaluating how we talk about mental health in this culture of glorifying pop culture and icons.

This article from Newsweek states that “revealing his diagnosis, he joins the likes of stars like Demi Lovato and Mariah Carey who have also shared their experience with the disorder.” This is especially alarming because Demi is an outspoken advocate who has documented her progress with professionals and at another caliber of progress than Kanye’s method of using his music as a journal to the detriment of his listeners. Once the media understands mental health at a better level, then we can report better on those actually utilizing their platform for good rather than ego-driven ways or self-promotion.

Mental health is not a marketing tactic.

Filed Under: Blog

Fight Your Programming of Perfection

November 17, 2017 By Ryan Brunty Leave a Comment

Perfection is an illusion.

It’s an illusion of grandeur, one that all humans strive for, yet is unattainable no matter what maneuvers one takes. We live in an imperfect world with imperfect circumstances in a timeline that has literally billions, maybe even trillions, of possibilities. Every day when you get out of bed, you’re making a choice as to how your day will progress which could lead to any possibility, anything is a possibility.

Maybe this is a scary thought, the fact that whatever we strive for, we can have because of the opposite thought; whatever we don’t want can also be a possibility. Let’s break this down into laymen’s terms for easier understanding.

If you want to be a famous rockstar, every decision in your day is in hopes to one day playing Madison Square Garden to a sold out arena. So when you get out of bed in the morning, your mindset is already tuned to “How do I get my music to as many ears as possible?” You are thinking positively, you are tuned into the universe and you go about making plans trying to make your dream come true. Maybe you start off by visiting your favorite coffee shop, you crack open your computer and you aim to start sending emails to record executives with hyperlinks to your latest EP. However, instead of heading to your Gmail first, you head to Facebook because procrastination is easier than working on a dream that you know is near impossible. You start scrolling through Facebook, you start seeing your friends and their high paying jobs, they’re on vacation with their families and eating the best food in the world. You’re seeing a snapshot into their lives….their perfect lives. You start to doubt your path, you start second guessing your journey believing you should already be successful because you’ve already put the time in, you’ve already worked your butt off. You close your computer, finish your Chair Latte and head home to binge watch Mindhunter on Netflix and forget about working for the rest of the day because watching mind-numbing television is easier than working on your dreams. This turns into day-after-day until that dream of being a world famous rockstar becomes just that…a dream you had when you were younger.

Here’s the thing, your dream is important and working on that dream is even more important. The journey to success is the fun part, but also the hard part. This video I watched earlier from Bruno Mars details his journey from living in a one room house with no bathroom as a child to being a multimillionaire today. You might think, “sure it was easy for him, he has all the talent in the world!” Yes, he does have talent, but it’s not more talent than anyone else, his worth isn’t defined by his talent; it’s his hard workedness that defines him. His inability to stop pursuing what he wanted. He was dropped from Motown Records after a year and instead of wallowing in self doubt and giving up; he persisted and he persevered. Now he’s a house hold name and headlines arenas around the world.

My advice? Get off your phone, get off your social networks. Perfection is an illusion, all you’re seeing when you’re aimlessly scrolling is a snapshot into someone else’s storytelling. They’re trying to make others believe that their lives are perfect and nothing is ever wrong in their world. Social media is Pleasantville fully realized, everyone trying to pretend like their lives have no drama and nothing bothers them so here’s a delicious dinner I had while on vacation in Bali. Not pictured is the fact that their abusive partner just screamed at them on the drive over that restaurant or that they’re dealing with manic depressive disorder and aren’t sure where to turn.

The reason for this? We get little hits of dopamine every time we get a like on social media. In fact, according to this article from ama.org, “social media affects the brain in the same way that a hug does.” So every time we get a like on Instagram, it’s like a little hug to our brain that combats the feelings of every day life. It’s like a drug addiction that makes us feel better every time we get a little hit.

So, next time you start to doubt yourself or your journey, just know that we are all in this together. We are all going through life’s troubles together and there is no such thing as perfection, only resolution. And today, I hope you’ll join me in resolving to stop comparing my life to those I see online because I am special and you are too. Only you can command your journey and pilot your ship and without you, you’re just floating through life’s journey without direction. So instead, let’s all take control of our vessels and journey through this crazy thing called life trying to make the best version of “us” that we can.

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: mental health, mental health advocacy, perfectionism, psychology, therapy

New Year, New Anxieties – How To Deal With Depression

January 10, 2017 By Ryan Brunty Leave a Comment

Here it is, the new year is upon us. The hustle and bustle of the holidays are finally over.

The bright shining lights are off the trees, family has packed and gone back to their respective homes and the leftovers are starting to go a little bad in the fridge. Although the confetti is freshly swept up and the Christmas tree has come down, there’s still one thing that has stuck around through the holidays and into the new year…

Anxiety.

Whether it’s deep seated post-seasonal depression or anxiety around what the new year will hold; the turning of the calendar often times jumpstarts our panic mode in which we try to cope with thoughts of “now what?” As you make your 2017 to-do lists full of wishes and dreams you hope to accomplish throughout the new year, here’s a helpful list for some things you can do to combat the feelings you or a loved one may be experiencing.

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Filed Under: Blog

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