#mental ilness

[zachywackyman]

God thought my personality was lacking so he gave it a ✨disorder✨

[safe-haven-safe-place]

[slayingsadly]

I would like to fulfill other people's dreams and disappear from this earth

[equestrianfate]

People who struggle with anxiety and depression can't remember a lot.. because they're too busy focusing on how to get through each moment, so they don't actually experience what is happening to them. Causing them to not form the memory they were supposed to.

[suniah]

I think I tried to cough up my heart and it got stuck in my throat.

And I feel as if blood is clotting my cheek and my nerves are numbing my arms.

[very-sleepy-bees]

Hey mentally ill trans people inside my phone is it just a me thing or do you just have the sudden urge to murder anyone who you have gender envy for? Like pick up an axe and just drive it into them kinda thing. It sounds worse than it is.

[the-recovery-diaries]

"It might seem small to you,” she says. “But it was enough to wreck me."

My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell 

[cannibalchicken]

[sanjilover4815]

Personally I love LOST (ABC) because you slowly begin to realize that every single character is violently mentally ill and incredibly sexy.

[feather2004]

Why Wukong might be suffering nostalgic depression and how his clothing tells us this

Just to get this out there I’m not a physicist, this is just something I pieced together whilst studying Wukong’s character design. Also replies are turned off for this post idk, but I’ll trying to fix it.

The ‪Hanfu appeared in China more than three thousand years ago and is said that it was clothing of the legendary Yellow Emperor, a great sage king of ancient China. The basic of Hanfu was developed in time of Shang Dynasty, from 1600BC to 1000BC. “With the beginning of Western Zhou Dynasty Hanfu began to a be method of distinction between classes.” (History Of Clothing, 2023) “The Hanfu is now worn during some festivals, ritualistic ceremonies (such are coming of age or rite of passage), by historical re-enactors and by monks and priests.” (History Of Clothing, 2023) ‬

I believe this article of clothing is important because the show is supposed to be set in the modern day of JTTW and so as a result most characters in the beginning of the show are dressed suitably with a more modern attire. However, Wukong was the exception to this with him being the only character that dressed in fully traditional clothing for the most part; now this could have been done to simply make him recognizable, but I think it’s deeper than that. 

I believe Wukong's traditional clothing at the start of the show was a method to show that despite how he may present himself, Wukong in the show is trapped by his past and ruminating on his failures as a hero and as a friend. And it shows that Wukong clings to his past successes to cope and hide from his insecurities, constantly bragging about his heroic deeds whilst skipping over his mess-ups and refusing to admit responsibility. “Longing for the past (something you can’t reclaim) can fuel dissatisfaction with the present. Nostalgic depression, then, can describe a yearning coloured with deeper tones of hopelessness or despair.” (Those Happy Golden Years: Coping with Memories That Bring More Pain Than Peace, 2021, Crystal Raypole)

‪It also appears to be a visual theme to the show that characters who cling to the past like Wukong have a more traditional clothing style, but characters who embrace the future even gods like Wukong have amore modern appearance. A good example of this would be this shows version of Chang'e who has fully adapted to the modern day and has an outfit that is a clear reference to sailor moon and is even a TV host and a popular one at that. ‬

‪As you can tell The characters who are focused on the present are clearly designed with a more modern appearance in mind, but the characters stuck in the past all wear traditional clothing and have clearly stayed close to their origins. This could be for a myriad of reasons such as a longing for the past or to caught up in what happened to them that they are completely incapable of moving on. ‬

‪The only time we see Wukong in a modern style of clothing is during Season 3 where Wukong is forced to leave his comfort zone and is forced to interact with a friend group again; due to the threat of the Lady Bone Demon being so great he can’t just solo this adventure as he usually would and has to learn how to work with people again. ‬

During this arc we see Wukong’s credibility as a teacher and a friend being questioned and he is also forced to face a lot of his passed mistakes. This is also where Wukong first stars wearing semi modern clothing, as he is no longer hiding from the world and the new connections he is making with MK and his friends; this to me symbolizes Wukong making the first few steps to come to terms with his past and embracing his present however, he isn’t fully there yet as he is still lying to MK and the group and is dogging responsibility for his mistakes. “you hid it from all of us why? Were you afraid you were going to have to tear me apart” (Mei, Lego Monkie Kid, 2022) “we trusted you all of us how could you lead us into a fight without a real plan! Time and time again I’ve watched you put MK in danger leaving him to figure everything out on his own. Don’t you realize you hurting the people wo care about you the most!’  (Mei, Lego Monkie Kid, 2022) Which is why despite his progress he still clings to his old habits aka his more traditional style clothing.   

‪This is interesting to me because as stated by the series creators “the story of JTTW is very much about making peace with yourself and making peace with other people” (A Lego Journey To The East, 2020) However, despite this being the fundamental core of the story Wukong seems incapable of this with him being combative with others, deceitful and completely incapable of facing his past mistakes or even addressing his past at all. ‬

‪This theory is amplified more in Season 4 as during this season we get a good close look at the monkey kings past and what he was like before the advents of the journey. This design is a clear homage to Havoc In Heaven’s (1961) design of the monkey king, its copy’s the clothing to the letter.

Whilst this may just be a cool reference to the Chinese fans, I think it has a double meaning; as during this season Wukong is trapped inside a memory scroll which is designed to trap people in the past. This all but confirms Wukong’s refusal to move on from his history and his clothing clearly represents this due to it literally being a physical manifestation of a past iteration on the monkey king. ”getting caught up in an idealized rewrite can leave you comparing your present day to a past you didn’t actually enjoy all that much. This yearning can eventually factor into emotional distress, including symptoms of depression.” (Those Happy Golden Years: Coping with Memories That Bring More Pain Than Peace, 2021, Crystal Raypole)

‪So, in conclusion I believe The character designers for this show are displaying Wukong’s unhealthy clinging to his past with his clothing choices which can clearly show us the character arc the writers are intending for him. Whilst also displaying the themes of the show, which is moving on and self acceptance.         ‬

‪Through this research I have discovered that Wukong may very likely be experiencing nostalgic depression in the series but what is it, and what can it tell us about the creator's intention with Wukong's character and how his environment might be contributing to this. From what we can tell Wukong’s depression seems to stem from his broken relationships and loved ones lost, ”still the same Wukong, doing whatever he wants with no regard for others” (macaque, Lego Monkie Kid, 2022) which seems to have led to the monkey isolating himself not leaving his home Flower Fruit Mountain for at least 1000 years given the era the show takes place in ”The Monkey king Vanished never to be seen again…” (Lego Monkie Kid: A Hero Is Borne, Tang, 2020) We also know that “Nostalgia often surfaces when thinking of loved ones, both those you haven’t encountered in some time and those you no longer spend time with. If you lost a friend or loved one and feel like you never got real closure, this nostalgia may feel even more distressing.”‬

This can also be seen by the state on Wukong's home/environment, which is completely in ruin showing no signs of care or upkeep being put into it. The only exception might be his house but even then, it’s clear he has a hoarding problem with literal mountains of stuff from his past that he can’t part with ” The Journal of Clinical Psychology has identified depression and anxiety disorders as potential risk factors and underlying causes of compulsive hoarding. Depression and anxiety may lead to maladaptive behaviour  patterns that make it difficult to function in everyday situations. In this case, it could be holding onto items and creating clutter that disrupts everyday life.” (WHAT CAUSES HOARDING IN YOUR PARENT AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT,  VARIFIED STAFF, 2019)

‪Environmental problems can trigger depression in someone with a genetic predisposition for the disorder. But even those who don't have genetic risk factors for depression can develop symptoms due to environmental factors. “People who engage in unhealthy lifestyle practices also have a more difficult time overcoming depressive episodes than healthier people, as their unhealthy lifestyle practices tend to work against many treatment effects.” (Lifestyle Factors and Environmental Causes of Major Depression, 2023, MentalHelp) So I think it’s safe to say based on all this Wukong's self isolating habits plus his unhealthy lifestyle have contributed to him gaining nostalgic depression.   ‬

‪So yeah that’s my theory, what do you think.‬

[safe-haven-safe-place]

[sapphos-roommate]

Sometimes I say something too honest

And people get worried

I didn't mean to worry you

I just let the mask slip

and you saw that there was no real face behind it

just fire

and screaming

and blood

You were never supposed to see the blood.

I didn't mean to scare you.

[minhosimthings]

Are you truly alright or are you shoving the sun away again when it is meant to be summer and all you feel is the burn and not the warm hug?

[alejandrodmarco]

"In the Garden of Madness" by Alejandro D'Marco

My Site; https://linktr.ee/alejdmarco

[gay1twinkie]

what even is ocd, like quite honestly, can it stop? 😭😭😭😭🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️

[slayingsadly]

i don't know if i have depression, anxiety, social phobia, personality disorder, autism or just low selfv - esteem. what the hell is wrong with me?