Personally, as a person with add and depression. I don't like the fact that many styles and aesthetics are associated with illnesses that cause me pain and difficulty in everyday life. I honestly think It's inevitable and pretty ingrained in western culture that being unique is something to strive for, and some people take it the wrong way.

As a system, we find deep comfort in the aesthetics that are related to trauma, neurodivergencies, mental illnesses, and physical disabilities.

Our body is physically disabled, and it's been in and out of the hospital for quite a bit of its life.

Also, in the innerworld, many of our headmates are physically disabled and need aids to move or service animals.

Many of our headmates are also neurodivergent and those of us that are use these aesthetics to cope with the fact that we're different and not "typical".

In our personal experience, the fact that we're unique has NOT been accepted or seen as something to strive for. (We live in a western society.)

-the void collective (it/itself)

As someone who has ADD, anxiety and depression, I think that illnesses can be included into aesthetics, but there should definitely be rules about including them.

First off, they shouldn’t be romanticized at all. I’m able bodied, so I can’t talk about that, but like I said earlier, I do have mental illnesses. I’m sick of seeing people saying how edgy and cool mental illnesses are, they are not. They seriously suck. My or anyone else’s struggles isn’t an aesthetic that you can just put on and take off

Secondly, there shouldn’t be any gate keeping, like saying someone can’t be in an aesthetic because they don’t have some kind of mental/physical Illnesses. I think it’s self explanatory why this is wrong.

Then what could we do to include them? I think people in the same aesthetic with mental/physical illnesses could bond with sharing similar experiences instead of making this community toxic.

Although I agree more with @A person sitting on a chair , I think @Gremlin loves shinies has a great point.

Sorry for the long ass post lol, there’s a ton of grammatical errors

I feel like if it has mental illness in it, it must be in a way that is not toxic,stereotypical, and or anything like dat. I have many disorders and 1 disability so it can be in a way dat is inspiring other Dan really bad and overall sickening

As somebody with diagnosed ADHD (and possibly some undiagnosed mental disorders), I don't see a problem with aesthetics about this topic existing, but I feel like it's one of those things that should EXCLUSIVELY be for people that fit into those parameters and, to be blunt... if people outside of that try to adopt those aesthetics without dealing with these issues, they're assholes. If somebody's adopting Traumacore, but hasn't experienced any trauma that they're using the aesthetic to process said trauma... they're an asshole.

Honestly, I feel like it can, but there must be a sort of restriction in place. I do not have any mental nor physical illnesses, but I do understand that a lot people are uncomfortable with people taking illnesses too far. As far as I know, many people may use aesthetics as a coping mechanism, and that's awesome! However, I also know that a lot people are very extra with it. For example, I know a lot of people may make it their whole personality, or romanticize it, which is not okay. I've read some of the replies and got an idea to write this that is also not okay;

People without any illnesses using an aesthetic that includes a type of illness to try and become "unique."

That is obviously not okay. People with illnesses suffer (although it can vary in severity), and it is not okay to be completely fine and then try to fake an illness because you think it's quirky or will make you more different, because quite frankly, it won't.

So really in my conclusion, I think it's okay to have aesthetics that include illnesses, because people who have those illnesses will have something to cope with! On the other side, restrictions HAVE to be placed, and boundaries cannot be crossed. It's not okay to try and be unique with an aesthetic and real illnesses when real people are currently suffering.