Naomi Osaka’s decision to take a break from the 2021 French Open to focus on her mental health sparked something amazing. All of a sudden, people all over the globe shifted from chatting about tennis to having deep talks on stuff like anxiety, depression, and the heavy load of being in the public eye. That’s what celebs can do: with just one move, they can change what we all talk about, make tough times seem more normal, and shape our views on taking care of ourselves.

Public figures and the way they mess with our heads is kind of complicated. It’s all about getting inspired and then feeling less because of comparisons connecting but also getting a warped view being true to oneself but also showing off just the best bits. Nowadays, with social media throwing celebs and all those influencers at us all the time super close-up, it’s super crucial to get what’s going on with this whole thing.

So let’s dig into how the folks we look up to and follow, and sometimes throw shade at from a distance, are messing with more than just what we watch. They’re tweaking how we see ourselves how we act with others, and how our minds are doing—often when we don’t even catch onto it.

The Mind Game of Celebrity Culture

The Ups and Downs of Feeling Like You’re Buds With Celebs

Ever think you and a famous person are pals? That’s a pretty normal thing. Brain experts call these kinds of one-way feelings “parasocial relationships,” and yeah, they’re popping up more now that we’re all over social media.

Dr. Shira Gabriel, who’s real savvy about this stuff, says, “These pretend buddies can seem pretty legit.” She points out that our noodle treats them a lot like real mates launching a bunch of the same brain highways that make us feel like we’re part of the crew.

Healthy parasocial relationships can make folks feel cozy and pumped up. Like when you see Tom Hanks just being his cool self, it makes a bunch of people feel all safe. Or take Lady Gaga—she’s super open about her tough times, and that makes her fans feel like they’re not flying solo with their own troubles. There was this study, and it showed when things get gnarly—like when everybody was cooped up during the COVID-19 lockdown—these make-believe friendships can throw you a lifeline of steadiness and regular vibes.

Now, flip the script, and there’s a not-so-great part too. When these one-sided friendships get way too clingy or go into overdrive here’s the kind of mess you could end up with:

• Bailing on actual buddy time
• Cooking up some pie-in-the-sky hopes for real-life friendships
• Falling into the trap of useless comparing, which let’s face it, can make you feel pretty lousy about yourself
• Getting totally wrecked when a star does something that shatters that perfect pic you had of them

Instagram’s Role in Social Comparison

People always size themselves up against others to understand their own significance. However social media cranks this innate habit into high gear, with celebs setting the standard we often judge ourselves by.

This phenomenon has a deep influence. Research suggests seeing perfect celeb snapshots links to:

• More unhappiness with body image in the youth
• Rising anxiety over how one looks
• A spike in limiting what one eats
• Lower confidence and more signs of sadness

It’s super tricky cuz we often stack up our raw life against pics that got a whole lot of touch-ups and tweaks. Even when famous folks drop “real” shares, they’re just cherry-picking parts they wanna show to craft a certain vibe.

Like that funny guy, Bo Burnham said: “Social media is just the market’s answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said ‘Here perform everything to each other, all the time, for no reason.'” Celebs lead this whole show-off fest making us think we gotta hit some wild standards.

Celebs Getting Real About Their Minds

Making Talking About It Cool

Back in the day, nobody wanted to chat about their brain game, but oh boy, is that switching up quick. Mad props to the stars who got gutsy and threw their tough times into the mix.

The UK’s mental health support lines got 30% busier after Prince Harry got real about losing his mom. And when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson opened up about his own fight with feeling down, dudes all over social media started telling their stories, lots that never had before.

This guy, Dr. Michael Friedman who’s a big brain on psyche stuff, reckons that when the cool people spill about their mind struggles, it’s like giving a green light. It shows that getting help doesn’t mean you’re weak, it means you’re pretty tough.

in groups where it’s not cool to talk about feeling unwell, seeing celebs who look like them talk about therapy or popping pills for their brain can shake up old-school thinking. It encourages folks to go out and get the help they need.

The Impact of Being Seen

It’s super crucial to see people like us out there. So when celebs who deal with certain brain health stuff go public, they’re like big-time role models for folks who get what they’re going through.

Look at Selena Gomez, the star who’s been upfront about her ups and downs with bipolar disorder. She’s shared her whole story—like being in the hospital getting help, and keeping on top of it all. Her “My Mind & Me” doc in 2022 laid it all out there—the good, the bad, and the ugly of what it’s like to live with mental health battles, and it’s way different from the cleaned-up stuff you see everywhere else.

Just like that when Olympic swim legend Michael Phelps shared his battles with being sad and thinking about suicide, he kinda busted myths about who gets hit by mental health issues. He shows us that even folks who are killing it in sports can have tough times in their heads. It proves mental wellness doesn’t pick people based on their wins or fancy titles.

Shaking up What We Do and What’s Normal

Copying the Good (and Not-So-Good) Stuff People Do

Celebrities don’t change our thinking—they have an influence on our actions. This copycat thing stands out with the young crowd, who are still figuring themselves out and are super flexible.

Celebs who talk up therapy being mindful, or setting limits between work and home life make these choices seem usual. Kevin Love, a big-time basketball player, talked about having a panic attack during an NBA match and the help he got after. Then, the Cleveland Cavaliers said way more players started getting mental health help.

But it flips the other way too. When famous folks make it seem cool to do stuff that’s not too healthy—like crazy diets using drugs, or just working all the time—people start to think it’s okay. For example when social media stars joke about being a “wine mom,” it turns out more moms with kids end up drinking more.

Cultural Talks Taking New Turns

A single big public thing can sometimes change what people think about mental health.

Simone Biles made headlines when she stepped back from her Olympic events in Tokyo pointing to the need to take care of her mental health. This move shifted the global chat around pressures in sports and the mind’s health. Yesteryears, sports heads might’ve called this “quitting,” but now they’re weighing mental strength as much as body training.

Dr. Sarah Thornton, a sociologist, says these big cultural moments are huge. They open doors for fresh ways people see and treat their mental health breaking away from old shame.

Social Media and How It Changes Everything

Walls Come Tumbling Down

Back in the day, celebs were these far-off folks we saw when they wanted us to polished by the media. But, whoa how social media turned that on its head!

“Media psychologist Dr. Pamela Rutledge explains we’re in the thick of a huge shrink in psychological distance. You peep a celeb’s bathroom pic or their morning coffee ritual, and your noggin takes that up-close peep as the real deal connection.”

That feeling of closeness cranks up their hold on our headspace, for the good and the bad. When someone we check out on the reg talks about a mental health hiccup, it’s like a pal spilling the beans to us. But then, eyeballing their picture-perfect life can seem like we’re lining up our own cluttered world right next to theirs.

The Algorithmic Echo Chamber

It ain’t just about hooking up with celebs on social media these days—they’re cranking up certain peeps’ voices ’cause folks just click and like more.

Posts that spark big emotional reactions, like awe or anger, are most likely to get shared around. Because of this famous folks might start to post stuff that’s way out there, from crazy beauty ideals to strong opinions in politics.

When we talk about the mind game here, it’s intense: those sneaky algorithms trap you in loops where thinking about mental health in a certain way seems the norm, could be good (like how therapy’s super important) or bad (like saying being ill means you’re weak). The celebs and influencers popping up in your scrolling sesh don’t just control the kind of stuff you see; they mold how you grasp the whole concept of mental health.

How to Have a Better Vibe with Star Power Culture

Knowing Your Media Helps Guard Ya

If you wanna keep the bad vibes from celebrity chatter at bay, getting smart about media is your best bet. To cut it down to the basics:

Realize most celeb stuff gets meticulous edits and setups. Figure out the deal with those influencer business strategies—like, what are they trying to sell you? Notice how you feel when you look at all that star-studded content. Choose to pick what you dive into rather than just swiping up and down.

So schools are getting hip to this tossing these skills into their lesson plans knowing that keeping up with celeb sway is becoming a must-have ability for life. It’s super important to teach kids to think about the vibes celebs send their way just as much as math or history.

Whipping Up Balanced Parasocial Eats

Alright just like we get how to aim for nutritious eating, we can whip up a healthier “parasocial menu”—that’s the celebs we decide to track and the content we soak up from ’em.

Time to consider:

• Watch celebrities who show real openness even when they’re winning.
• Let folks with all sorts of backgrounds and shapes speak up.
• Pay attention to your emotions after you check out certain profiles.
• Step away from famous people’s stuff now and then.
• Mix hanging out with online stars with making friends in the real deal.

Wrapping It Up: Striking the Right Mix

Celebrities hold massive clout to shape our mental state and social actions. They wield their influence to make seeking help more okay and build communities tied to common struggles. But they also got a knack for making us feel less sure about ourselves pushing us towards not-so-healthy comparisons, and tweaking what we think is normal.

We don’t gotta cut public icons out of our lives—ain’t gonna happen, and we don’t need to. What we should do is get smarter about how we interact with the glitz and glam. We can dig the good stuff they bring to the table while staying sharp about the downsides.

In this tricky world we’re moving through, keep in mind, folks we think are flawless celebs are real people too. They got their own tough stuff going on away from all the camera flashes and slick posts. It might be best for us to take their tales with a kind heart while we keep it real with the stories we share ourselves.