Mental Illness Chic is a four illustration project with the goal of opening a conversation about how society treats mental health. This includes things such as misconceptions, insensitivity, and even glamorization. Mental health is simultaneously one of least understood and commonly discussed topics. We often see terms colloquialized, like describing the weather as Bipolar if it is in constant flux throughout the day because Bipolar is misunderstood as just mood swings. Many people believe that Depression and just being sad are one in the same and will self-diagnose because they haven't been educationed on mental health. In movies and television, characters with mental illnesses are often the antagonist. Even on reality television, people with severe mental illnesses are being profited off of because they're a spectacle for the audience. On the news, people with mental illnesses are the ones who hurt others, further demonizing all those with illnesses while at the same time pardoning these criminals as if it's something that can be explained away with their illness. This is the the understanding of mental health that the population is exposed to. It makes it difficult for anyone to speak about their illness without thorough explanation, as some people would consider them dangerous because of it. We're not dangerous. We're people.