“How Instagram Aesthetics Are Messing With Our Reality – The New Mental Health Crisis?”
- Neha Kumari
- Jul 22
- 4 min read
We are looking through Instagram and notice everything ideal organized brunches, white rooms with pale illumination, glimmering skin, designer closets, beach escapes, serene sunsets.
All appears… Perfect.
The question however arises; at what cost?
Are these aesthetic feeds making us inspired or are they crushing our self-worths in silence?
it is not only the filters distorting reality in 2025. It is the standardization of beauty, life and even emotions. Introducing the new mental health crisis: what we can see is hidden, but it is the sneaky one that is creating the way that we feel about our personal lives.
The Appearance of Aesthetic Living
Everything has now an aesthetic: cottagecore, clean girl, dark feminine, soft life, wellness baddie.
Such visuals are beautiful. They provide us with the inspiration, that we have a sense of order, and in some cases even enough encouragement to romanticise the little moments in life.
When every cup of coffee has to appear Pinterest-worthy when every outfit has to match and when your room must always be a beige tone with pampas grass - when everything becomes controlled like a performance, it starts feeling not like a possibility to express yourself and start feeling like an obligation.
We are no longer per se alive. We engineered a curatorial product line of lifestyle brand -So because of our personality.
The Truth behind the Grid
What is the real problem?
We begin to compare our daily lives with the highlight reel of another person and that is never a fair thing to do.
Your reality suddenly becomes ugly, disorganized and unsatisfactory.
And it occurs day in and day out and then you start thinking that your life is not as much as it is supposed to be.
The Perfection Pressure to be Perfect, Letting the World See Things Falling Apart
Psych, of the emotional form of aestheticism.
Even our cure now must be a beauty to look at.
You can never simply cry, but have to have a filter to it, a book in hands, close to a sunlight.
We are acting peace.
We are doing curing.
We are doing productivity.
Behind the screens?
People are exhausted, stressed out, and lost without knowing how to even say so as their feed tells them otherwise.
That makes a vicious cycle:
Act like you are fine → Share and get likes that everything is okay → Be more lonely as it is not the reality.
The Mental Health Impact- Subtle and Strong
It is not always that you can see it immediately.
However, in the long-term Instagram aesthetics can result in:
Low self worth: You think your true life is not good enough.
Imposter syndrome: You feel like a pretender even when you are doing great.
Decision fatigue: Playing Decision Monkey all the time - are such things postable?
Does it qualify as aesthetically superior?
Body image problems: The attitude to your body against airbrushed images of other people.
Loneliness: The sense of being alienated to your truth.
It is not just deteriorations of mood, but it is daily micro-shots to your mental condition, and it adds up over time.
The Trends of the Clean Girl and That Girl: Empowering or Pressurizing?
The trends appear positive in the beginning.
Rise early, eat well, keep a diary, tidy your room, - it all sounds wonderful, but do you think you can do it?
The issue is in the anticipation of perfection.
You have to be glowing, productive, sipping lemon water in a matching gym outfit, otherwise, you feel that you fail.
It confirms an idea that success and happiness are supposed to look a particular way slim, minimalist, bright and ever together.
But factual growth? Real life? It is usually unclean, leisurely and raw.
Taking Back Your Own Beauty- Post Algorithmic Beauty
The fact is, you need not be aesthetic to make your life count!
Chai in an unglazed mug, an untidy room with its memories, a silent moment of at rest stuff like that does not get any likes, yet it is real.
You need not put your peace up in order to show it.
You are not required to record your recovery to make it legitimate.
When something completes you, whether it turns out to be camera worthy or not, it is enough.
Withdrawing of the Aesthetic Trap
The following are some mild reminders and ways of aiding in breaking the cycle:
Unfollow because it is good for your mental health.
It is also alright to mute or unfollow somebody when there is always something in your
feed that makes you feel inadequate.
Guard your calm.
The content must be human to consume.
Subscribe to authors that present the ugly side of life. Those who are the speakers of bad days, unfiltered lives, and emotions.
Post less. Live more.
Cry with moments! Not contents.
Take an inventory of yourself.
Prior to posting, question: Do I want to share this to connect, or to be approved?
Produce first, then consuming.
Do not begin your day watching other people highlight reel. Write, stretch, breathe, or just sit in front of you before you scroll.
Closing Remarks: Life over Feed
The Instagram aesthetics are not evil. They are attractive, artistic and inspirational. The issue though starts when we get the curated and the real mixed up.
You need not have a minimalistic life to create a meaningful life.
You do not need to be bright to be adorable.
It does not take a filter to suffice.
The thing is that healing is not always tender and radiant, sometimes it is ugly, sluggish, and quiet.
And that is fine.
So perhaps today, do not make your life appear beautiful, simply live it.
Feel it. Sloppy, actual, and all yours.
That is the aesthetic that we all should have more of.
📅 By News Anek Digital Desk | July 22, 2025
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