Teen Shows Both Faces of Mental Illness With Hair and Makeup
It’s easy to overlook mental illnesses since they may not be as outwardly apparent as other health problems are, but one teen is determined to show people that mental health issues are just as painful as other illnesses.
Ellie Newton, an 18-year-old college student in the UK, posted on Facebook to give people a tangible look into mental illness. Newton posted two photos, one with makeup and a smile where she looks like a “normal” teen, and the other in the depths of her depression and anxiety.
“Scared to post this but I need to rant to try and get people to understand. The two pictures show two sides of me. The left is the face I put on for the world while the right is the raw, unedited me,” Newton wrote. “On the left I look like a ‘normal’ teenager wearing makeup and my hair looking good and well presented. But this is a façade. While I’m not saying I look like the other picture all the other times, this is the me I don’t show the world. Tired, crying, puffy face, bags under my eyes, messy hair, no makeup, unbrushed hair, unkempt and exhausted.” Newton showed people that while mental health problems are usually invisible, they are very real. “This is what my illness does to me. Please don’t tell me I don’t have anything wrong with me just because I look okay.”
Despite her fear, Newton thought it was important to give a face to mental illness. “I wanted to show people that just because I appear to be ‘normal’ when I’m with them it doesn’t necessarily mean that things are okay. Although you cannot see mental health it shows itself in other ways, like not taking care of my appearance, or not getting dressed or change what I’m wearing most days,” Newton told the Daily Mail. “When I do go out I often find it easier for other people’s sake if I act like everything is okay, because people get uncomfortable and don’t know what to say or how to act around me when I say I’m not having a good day. That shouldn’t be the case. If you have a cold you don’t avoid telling people because it doesn’t make them feel comfortable so why should it be any different to mental health?”
Newton wants to change the stigma surrounding mental health problems. “It’s exhausting and draining having to pretend. People shouldn’t be scared of approaching me. I’m still a human and I’m still the same me so I just wish people would treat me like me not like me but with depression,” Newton said. “I hope the post will help not just those with mental illnesses but others to be able to see the warning signs, how to approach them, and where to get help. The more we talk about it, the less awkward it becomes.”
Ellie Newton isn’t the first to show the physical tolls of mental illness. This April, another woman set out to show people what an anxiety attack really looks like. In before and after pictures, Amber Smith took to Facebook to show her fans that the burden she carries around every day, while invisible, is still very real. “Top picture: What I showcase to the world via social media. Dressed up, makeup done, filters galore. The ‘normal’ side to me. Bottom picture: Taken tonight shortly after suffering from a panic attack because of my anxiety. Also the ‘normal’ side to me that most people don’t see,” Smith wrote.
Both women are careful with their use of the word “normal,” keeping it in quotations to demonstrate that, while their before pictures meet the social expectations, their after pictures are also normal. And while breaking down stereotypes is difficult, posts like these help to normalize mental illness. “Please don’t be afraid to share this, there needs to be more awareness,” Smith wrote. “The more awareness there is, the less people who will suffer in silence.”
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