メンヘラ (Menhera) is Japanese
internet slang for somebody who has, likely suffers from mental illness or needs help for their mental illness.
The term was seemingly popularized on 2Channel's (now 5Channel as of late 2017) mental health board Menherer (now Menhera) and was originally abbreviated as "Menhel", deriving from the word "mental health".
It does not refer to any mental illness in specific but is moreso an ambiguous term of nuance.
Although Menhera is intentionally different from previous slurs and used to avoid
discrimination, there is still a stigma surrounding it.
Being that Menhera are
mentally unstable and their behavior can escalate very quickly: stalking, throwing tantrums,
attention-seeking, testing their partner's loyalty and threatening self harm.
In the late 2010s, Menhera began to emerge in the form of a fashion through the substyle 'Yami Kawaii', that would challenge Japanese society's views on mental health bluntly. Pastel medical accessories like syringes, pins with nooses + pills and vent art on oversized clothing on full display.
A series of satire comics by Bisuko Ezaki titled "Wrist cut warrior Menherachan/メンヘラチャン" that originally started off as vent art became popularized through Yami Kawaii as well.
The character has now become a staple in the fashion. However, controversy arose when in early 2019, Ezaki trademarked the word 'Menhera'.
It has since been bastardized as only a 'sickly cute aesthetic' by westerners on Instagram.
