Sadly, those who were brave enough to come forward with their mental health struggles were frequently stigmatized by society at large. As a result of this intense, unwarranted judgment, many individuals felt there was no choice but to keep their disorders a secret.
With the passage of time, we’ve seen a turn of the tides in the US surrounding topics relating to mental illness. Now that research sheds light on how common these issues are, many people are encouraged to speak out about them. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 5 individuals in the US struggle with issues relating to mental health.
Celebrities open up about mental health issues
For decades, mega-stars did their best to present only the most polished and sparkling versions of themselves and even give off an aura of mystery.
But nowadays, many celebrities are opening up to fans about their mental health struggles. Consumers of pop culture seem hungry for shared stories and experiences that are transparent and relatable rather than glamorized perfection. This cultural shift permits movie stars and pop sensations to get real with the world about personal issues that are far from picture-perfect.
Eliminating the stigma associated with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more
When megastars get vulnerable and share about their behavioral health issues, individuals who are battling with mental illness feel seen. Knowing that their favorite actors and musicians also deal with anxiety, OCD, and depression can help so many people feel less alone.
And, fans can feel less ashamed about their own personal struggles when the people they look up to face similar obstacles.
If Selena Gomez can release an entire documentary about her experiences with bipolar disorder, it takes a weight off of people’s shoulders. If Megan The Stallion can shamelessly drop a track called “Anxiety,” fans can feel a sense of validation for their emotions. There’s something so comforting about knowing these mega-stars really are “just like us.”
But are these celebrities oversharing about their mental health?
Are Celebrities too candid with fans?
Not everyone is on board with this newfound transparency. On the other hand, a growing number of pop culture consumers think these celebs’ first-world issues have no relation to real-world problems and leave them totally out of touch.
Considering how wealthy most A-list stars are…some are convinced that celebrities will never understand the tribulations that lower and middle-class people face. As a result, some argue that celebrities have resources and access to things most of us could never dream of so they should have less mental stress.
Back in 2022, Bella Hadid was famously dragged when a resurfaced clip featured her crying when she couldn’t have a designer bag.
Of course, we’re all aware that Kendall Jenner has faced years of criticism for using her platform to talk about her crippling anxiety,
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“There is going to be those people that say, ‘Oh, OK, what does she have to worry about? What does she have to be anxious about?” the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star said in an interview with Vogue.
While Jenner goes on to acknowledge her privilege, she also says that fame doesn’t automatically preclude her troubles with mental illness. The reality star adds, “I’m still a human being at the end of the day.”
And let’s not forget during the height of the pandemic, when A-listers were brutally attacked online for complaining about being stuck inside their homes despite living in million-dollar mansions. In this instance, the masses were not so quick to sympathize with celebrities’ complaints.
When Ellen Degeneres whined about being unable to go outside during the pandemic and compared it to “being in jail,” the general public called her out.
Sophie Turner and other celebrities use their platform to advocate for mental health
But the notion that celebrities are out of touch when it comes to their first-world struggles is only half the argument.
Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan stirred the pot when he suggested many celebrities “fake” mental health issues in an effort to boost their careers. “Sadly, I know a lot of well-known people (not The Rock) who’ve jumped on the ‘victimhood’ bandwagon to get positive publicity for themselves,” the controversial figure tweeted in 2019. “They do those with genuine mental illness a great disservice.”
His controversial take was met with a wave of backlash from celebs and the general public alike. Game of Thrones superstar Sophie Turner, who is an avid advocate of mental health, clapped back at the Good Morning Britain host.
She responded in a heated tweet, saying, "Or maybe they have a platform to speak out about it and help get rid of the stigma of mental illness, which affects 1 in 4 people in the UK per year. But please go ahead and shun them back into silence.”
Sophie Turner via Twitter
There seems to be a divide over how people feel about celebrities sharing intimate details regarding their mental health affairs. Whether you believe stars are splattering personal concerns all over social media simply to remain relevant or if you genuinely think they do a terrific job destigmatizing mental health problems is entirely up to you.
Personally, I love it when people like Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande reveal their struggles with depression and anxiety because it makes me feel less sensitive and ashamed about my own inner frailties. And I feel less alone.
The way I see it, when someone like Kendall Jenner gets brutally honest about her journey with crippling anxiety, it creates a sense of unity for everyone out there who is dealing with the same thing. Kendall, along with a slew of other celebrities, leverages her platform to build a fervent discourse on topics that have been swept under the rug for far too long.
Climate change is often framed as a problem of the future—something that "will happen" if we fail to act.
But the truth is that climate change is happening right now, and it's already destroying livelihoods. Climate change is the droughts, the hurricanes, the wildfires, and the floods that are occurring with increasing frequency. It's the extreme heat, which is debilitating to some but which others can easily drown out with air conditioning.
Climate change generally harms poor communities and communities of color far more than it harms the primary drivers of rising global temperatures, namely corporations and those who benefit from corporate success. Ironically, poor communities that contribute very little to climate change tend to be the ones who have to deal with its worst effects.
Still, climate change will come for us all one way or another—that much is clear. Climate change is even beginning to damage luxury hotels, infringing on the isolated worlds of the super-rich. Here are eight places around the world that are already disappearing because of climate change. Chilling harbingers of what's to come if we don't act, these places are also testaments to overconsumption and the brutal effects of humanity's utter lack of care for the planet and for our fellow humans.
1. Hotel Bélvèdere, Switzerland
Hotel Belvedere
The Swiss Alps' magnificent Rhone Glacier once attracted visitors from across the globe. Many chose to stay at the glamorous Hotel Bélvèdere, which hosted the likes of Pope John XXIII and Sean Connery in its day. But the Rhone Glacier has been steadily retreating, losing almost a full mile in the last century. It's receded so much that the land on which the hotel stands is no longer secure, and so the hotel has been closed indefinitely. Today, it's boarded up, a relic of a long-gone world.
2. Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, US
Isle De Jean Charles
Southeastern Louisiana's beautiful gothic island homes are now sinking into the sea. The island is home to many members of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw and the United Houma Nation tribes, which have already lost 98% of their remaining land since 1955.
The island was heavily damaged by floods throughout the first decade of the 2000s, culminating in devastation after Hurricane Katrina. At the beginning of 2016, Louisiana was awarded a $96 million grant to move the island's inhabitants to higher ground. Those who lived on the island will be awarded either a house in a resettlement community located further north or funds to move somewhere else. Displaced tribe members are still mourning their lost homeland.
3. Vunidogoloa, Fiji
Vunidogoloa, Fiji
Climate change threatens to turn many tropical oases into underwater relics. One such place is Vunidogoloa, Fiji, a village that has been flooded because of climate change, forcing inhabitants to move to higher ground.
Since 2012, these villagers have been in the process of moving to higher land. There was a time when Vunidogoloa was a thriving community, but today, rising sea levels have increased levels of soil salinization, have worn away fields, and have eroded seawalls intended to stop the floods.
Painted as "the nation's first community to relocate because of climate change," the fates of the Vunidogoloa villagers are warning signs for us all.
4. Saint-Louis, Senegal
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Saint-Louis, Senegal was once a vibrant coastal city, but it's now being overtaken by the sea."Climate change has had a devastating impact on our city, destroying houses and key infrastructure," said Saint-Louis's mayor, Amadou Mansour Faye.
Out of the more than 100 million people live along the west African coast, "four million of those have been displaced, forced to live in temporary camps away from the shoreline," according to Sky News.
Flooding, shoreline erosion, and drought have heavily damaged Saint-Louis and many neighboring towns, seeding conflict, forcing thousands to flee to refugee camps, and provoking the rise of extremist groups.
Climate change "is a huge problem for developing countries because they don't have the resources to fight coastal erosion,"said Loïc Brüning, who researches the effects of climate change in Saint-Louis. "From Mauritania to Cameroon, all the shore is eroded. Whereas cities in the Netherlands have protected themselves because they have the knowledge and finances to do so."
5. Coral Reefs on Christmas Island, Australia
Australia Coral Reef
Australia's reefs are some of the most visually arresting examples of climate change available to us. While attention has been lavished on the dramatically decaying Great Barrier Reefs, many of Australia's western reefs are suffering too.
Heat stress from climate change led 90% of the reefs by Christmas Island to die or turn bleach-white in a 10 month period between 2015 and 2016. These reefs provided vital nourishment to many of the aquatic species living in these waters, and the reefs' deaths have contributed to a decline in food quality and health for many nearby humans.
6. Chacaltaya Glacier and Ski Resort, Bolivia
Chacaltaya Glacier and Ski Resort, Bolivia
This 18,000-year-old glacier began to melt around 1980, and in 2009 the glacier was completely gone due to climate change.
But Bolivia's Chacaltaya Glacier had been the home of Bolivia's only ski resort, which had been open since the 1930s. Located at 17,519 feet above sea level, the resort was long the world's highest ski resort, and its restaurant is still currently recognized as the highest restaurant in the world. Today, the once-thriving resort is maintained by two brothers who worked at the resort for decades. They maintain a place where visitors can still receive a hot meal, hence the location's continued recognition as the world's highest restaurant. The mountain resort, however, lies eerily abandoned, a foreboding warning sign of what's to come.
7. Lake Poopó, Bolivia
Lake Poopó, Bolivia
Lake Poopó dried up entirely in 2016 due to agriculture, mining, and climate change. Once Bolivia's second-largest lake, it had long been a vital resource for many communities that relied on it for food and sustenance. Nestled in the Altiplano Mountains at an altitude of 3,700 meters, it made mountainous areas habitable, but no longer.
Today, the lake has turned to a collection of salt-scarred marshes littered with bird skeletons and overwhelmed by scavenging beetles. Many scientists have cited its disappearance as a warning about the future consequences of climate change.
8. Shishmaref, Alaska
Shishmaref, Alaska
The village of Shishmaref, Alaska was built atop a sheath of ice, putting it at extreme risk as global temperatures rise. Climate change has already heavily impacted Shishmaref, as rising temperatures and melting floes have made the landscape all but uninhabitable.
As the world warms thanks to the 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide that humans pump into the atmosphere each second, Shishmaref is disappearing. It's one of 31 villages in Alaska that face extreme threats from erosion and climate change-related issues, according to a Government Accountability report. Things have gotten so bad in this village that in 2017, inhabitants officially voted to relocate, though they don't yet have the funds to do so.
