The 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)' music video, released in 2004, features the band My Chemical Romance as outcasts in a fictional prep school setting. Frontman Gerard Way delivers the legendary line 'I'm not okay!' with a visceral, theatrical emotion that immediately resonated with a generation of fans. Directed by Marc Webb, the video was styled like a movie trailer, making this specific outburst feel cinematic and incredibly high-stakes. In the meme landscape, this clip is the gold standard for dramatic irony and expressing peak emotional distress over minor inconveniences. It perfectly represents situations involving burnout, social anxiety, or the feeling of being completely overwhelmed by daily life. Modern creators use it to mock their own overreactions or to signal a genuine need for a nap. Example captions include: 'When the restaurant says they don't have oat milk,' 'Me after 10 minutes of social interaction,' and 'When my alarm goes off for a shift I voluntarily signed up for.'