Jake Paul...
Who is Jake Paul? Jake Joseph Paul is an American YouTuber and Internet personality. He is also a musician, and an actor, as well as the brother of Logan Paul. But why is everyone talking about him now? Well, the other night on Twitter, Paul tweeted something that fans found abhorrent. The now deleted tweet read:
”Remember anxiety is created by you. Sometimes you gotta let life play out and remind yourself to be happy and that the answers will come. Chill your mind out. Go for a walk. Talk to a friend.”
Unsurprisingly, Paul got a lot of negative feedback. Later, he said that he, too, suffered from anxiety and had just been trying to spread awareness. This author, however, is skeptical.
Throughout my own life, I’ve had people tell me that I could control my emotions. I was told that I was being dramatic and spoiled when in fact I was bipolar 1, which I didn’t find out for many years.
I spent so much time trying to control my emotions or self medicate that I’m still damaged. And people’s disbelief didn’t help my journey at all. Their casual brush offs about my suicidal tendencies made me want to shut myself off even further, and isolate myself from a society that wanted nothing to do with me and my disorder.
So many people I know have had a similar experience. They’ve been told to “get over it” or told that “they can control it.” I’m here to tell you that when it’s an diagnosed disorder, there is no “controlling it.”
As someone with bipolar disorder, my dopamine and serotonin levels aren’t normal, and I need medicine to balance them out. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that my body has a chemical imbalance and I need the help of medications to normalize my brain. And even then, it’s not an easy process. I have been on plenty of different medications and I am, in fact, still trying to find the right combination for me.
So the last thing I, or anyone else, needs is someone telling us that it’s something we can control. Do we relish being different and needing medication to function? No. Do we need the support of friends, family, and even the general public? Why yes, yes we do.
So, Jake... think before you tweet.