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Gen Z therapists are actually jumping on the viral “Betrayal List” trend on TikTok, which is a massive meme rooted in Kanye West’s public mental health struggles, and it’s absolutely ticking off people in the mental health community who think they should be focusing on actual issues in their field. Social media, always the chaotic new outlet for our daily frustrations, has taken something incredibly serious and warped it into a cathartic meme format, but this time around, when professionals got involved, it felt like it crossed a line.
The whole thing started with an erratic, now-deleted post by Kanye West (Ye) back in September, where he posted a wild list of people and characters he felt had betrayed him, per Daily Dot. He dramatically tweeted, “I AM IN PAIN THAT NO ONE PERSON CAN FIX,” and titled his bizarre inventory “THE BETRAYAL”. The list itself ranged from his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and President Donald Trump to the fictional cartoon monkey Curious George and the SpongeBob SquarePants character Patrick Star.
Although most people treated the trend as harmless fun, the mood changed when people who should absolutely know better, i.e., licensed therapists, started participating. When actual therapists, who are supposed to be beacons of ethics and accountability in a very sensitive field, jump on a meme that profits from mental health distress, you can expect some strong pushback. That’s exactly what happened on Reddit in the r/therapyabuse community, a place where people share legitimate concerns about their treatment.
People are copying Kanye now
Honestly, I don’t know what Patrick Star could have done to betray Ye, but you can’t make this stuff up. Even worse, the list included deeply shocking names like Harriet Tubman, “Adolf” (presumably Hitler), and, most concerningly, his own daughter, North West. The internet, being the internet, immediately realized the meme potential in this level of high-stakes, dramatic grievance.
One user, u/MyMentalHelldotcom, shared their frustration in a detailed and deleted post that didn’t mince words. They pointed out the hypocrisy, writing that “therapists who treat sexual trauma survivors are normalizing a dude who’s being [accused] of sexual battery and sex trafficking”.
That’s a powerful statement, and it completely reframes the seemingly “harmless” nature of the trend when you consider the ethical implications. They then listed the kinds of complaints the therapists were putting on their own “Betrayal Lists,” which were eye-rollingly trivial compared to the issues their clients face: things like “session notes,” “unpaid internships,” and “not having time to pee”.
u/MyMentalHelldotcom’s critique of this was perfectly sharp. They continued, “I’m not saying these aren’t important ([except] for the notes, get over yourselves) but instead of using their platforms to talk about actual issues in the field, like ethics, accountability, or how licensing boards ignore harm, they’re out here joking about running out of tissue boxes at the wrong time”.
This is the core betrayal, isn’t it? The public expects these professionals to champion serious change, like making therapy more accessible or ensuring ethical behavior, but they’re using their platforms to chase a viral moment. That honestly feels like night and day compared to what their job entails.
Adding insult to injury, the original poster on Reddit also brought up a financial point that many people might have missed: the use of Ye’s music. They pointed out, “Also, they’re all using Kanye’s music in their reels, which means he’s getting royalties”. So, not only are they trivializing a meltdown and ignoring serious industry problems, but they’re actively generating revenue for the very artist whose mental breakdown fueled the trend in the first place.
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