On January 17th 2014 Madison Holleran, a student athlete on the track team at the University of Pennsylvania, committed suicide after battling depression for the majority of her college career. ESPN writer Kate Fagan outlines Madison’s story in her piece Split Image. In it, Fagan discusses the life of Madison and the dangers of how social media, particularly Instagram, can mask depression and allow people to create an alternate, online reality.
The most surprising (and in many ways important) topic Fagan points out is her description of Madison’s background and relationship with her family.
In many ways, Madison Hollerman had an ideal life. She had a loving, supportive family, she was intelligent, and a wildly talented athlete. The idea that a person with such a background would battle and ultimately lose to depression is almost unthinkable; exactly to Fagan’s point. Anyone is subject to depression and any sign must be taken seriously.
Fagan shows the stark contrast between the feelings Madison had in reality, and feelings she portrayed on social media.
Here is a video embedded in Fagan’s article that depicted the dichotomy of Madison’s life inside and out of her Instagram account.
Can’t get enough of Campus Sports? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay updated with the latest news and exclusive giveaways!
