メンタルやられる

• Reading: メンタルやられる
• Romaji: mentaru yarareru
• Pronunciation: /me.n.ta.ɾɯ.ja.ɾa.ɾe.ɾɯ/

Meaning

Mentally destroyed or having one's mental health wrecked — describes being emotionally devastated or psychologically overwhelmed.

Combines メンタル (mentaru, 'mental' from English) with やられる (yarareru, 'to be done in/defeated'). This expression conveys that something has hit you so hard emotionally or psychologically that your mental state is damaged. It is stronger than ブルーになる but less clinical than actual mental health terminology. Common among young adults discussing stress from work, relationships, or overwhelming situations.

Examples

1. 上司に毎日怒られてメンタルやられてる。 Getting yelled at by my boss every day is wrecking my mental health.
2. 推しの熱愛報道でメンタルやられた。 My mental health got destroyed when the dating news about my favorite idol came out.
3. 就活で何社も落ちてメンタルやられそう。 Getting rejected by company after company during job hunting is about to wreck me mentally.

Usage Guide

Context: friends, social media, venting

Tone: exhausted, defeated, stressed

Do Say

• ブラック企業でメンタルやられて辞めた。 (My mental health got wrecked at a toxic company so I quit.)
• SNSの誹謗中傷でメンタルやられる人多いよね。 (A lot of people get mentally destroyed by online hate, right?)

Don't Say

• 本当に精神的に辛い人の前で軽く「メンタルやられた〜」は配慮が足りない (Casually saying 'mentaru yarareta~' around someone genuinely struggling with mental illness can be insensitive)

Common Mistakes

• Using it too lightly for minor inconveniences — while it can be used hyperbolically, overuse trivialises genuine mental health struggles

Origin & History

Compound of the English loanword メンタル (mental) and the passive form of やる (to do/defeat). やられる in slang means 'to be done in' or 'to be wrecked.' Emerged in 2010s youth culture as mental health discussion became more open.

Cultural Context

Era: 2010s youth slang

Generation: 10s-30s, working young adults

Social background: Youth and young professional culture

Regional notes: Used nationwide. Part of a growing vocabulary around mental health in Japanese youth culture, alongside 病む, メンブレ, and メンヘラ.