2024 Mental Health Essay Contest Awardee: Bronze
Taking a Step Today, for a Better Tomorrow
Savannah, New Jersey
In today's world, mental health is not normalized, the stigma on mental health makes people feel weak for seeking out help. There are a lot of people that deal with these issues like adults, elderly people, and kids. When those people deal with their own issues and society’s discrimination, it can cause them to act or think in certain ways that may overload their minds. People get labeled as “dangerous”, “crazy”, “weak”, “weird” due to society’s outlook and perspective on mental health.
People are often stigmatized by their problems and not recognized as individuals. 19.86% of adults face mental health issues, 4.91% of people face severe mental health issues. Lastly, 7.7 million kids and teenagers are faced by mental health issues. In today’s generation, kids experience traumatic events that could possibly affect them long term; it's a never ending tunnel. When those kids try to reach out for help, they do not feel safe, they don't feel understood, they don't feel like they are being heard, they don't feel like they have anyone standing behind them. Some parents tell kids they don't have anything to stress or be depressed about or have anxiety about because they are kids. They make kids feel like the problems they face aren't important and they will eventually get over it.
That prevents kids from being able to talk to people because if they can't even talk to their parents about it of course they are going to feel like they can’t talk to anyone else. Parents can sometimes make their kids feel ashamed of their problems because they are young and haven't had much experience. School can have a toll on young people's mental health. Teachers not helping, overload on school work, young people working, playing sports and then having to do homework with no help or any motivation. The pressure of it all causes stress and anxiety.
Kids in school can make other kids that deal with mental issues feel ashamed or feel like outsiders. Bullying, fighting, belittling other kids because that’s what they are taught or how they are made to look at people due to the way they are raised, what their parents tell them or what they read into the stigmatism of what their friends tell them. Some parents don’t realize the disadvantage that kids could have in school, sports or work when they are faced with mental health. Some parents don’t realize the severeness of this issue when it comes to kids and teenagers.
The stigma on mental health is that society makes people feel weak, as if it’s not okay to reach out for help when needed most. I know that being in high school, going into my junior year it is a lot to prepare for. If I'm going to graduate, am I going to pass this exam or that exam? Am I going to be able to buy my car? How can I get better at track and still keep my grades up? I deal with a lot of anxiety and sometimes depression and I’m one to say I never feel like I have someone to talk to. I bottle my emotions up and I try my best to move forward but one thing I’ve realized is that bottling my emotions up doesn’t help because once I get to a point where I really can’t do it anymore, I explode or I push and distance myself from the rest of the world.
Ways we can fix that is to reduce social media, lend a helping hand or reach out to others that may need help instead of having them reach out first, and strengthen social skills. Have more open talks about mental health. Like it was once said, social media drains people. The pressure of all eyes on me, feeling like you’re being judged on all social media platforms, trying to live up to everyone’s expectations under the microscope of constant change because everything changes (fashion, people, etc.) what’s in today is out tomorrow. Social media normalizes a lot of issues or events that should not be normalized. Social media only shows the entertainment they think will get good views, they never show the reality of people who struggle with any type of issue or illness.
Lending out a helping hand can help people feel better when someone sees them struggling to move forward to overcome obstacles they are enduring in life. This can help people realize they have people they can talk to, able to hear and listen to when they need someone to turn to during their times of sadness. When reaching out and helping other people helps that person, it also helps us. Our own mental health, our own problems can take over when we look out for other people and not ourselves. When we don’t give ourselves enough self-love.
Having ways to strengthen our social skills can also be a coping mechanism for mental health. Finding new hobbies or people that make the world stop for even just a second can make you feel like everything is better. Surrounding yourself with people that better you not just for yourself but for your future self can strengthen so many aspects of your life and mental health.
Lastly, having open conversations and an open mind about mental health in schools, at work, even having videos about the topic can make people feel a lot better about what they may go through. Not everything has to be a physical coping mechanism, it can always be a gesture or even an expression. In conclusion, mental health is always looked at as a heavy topic to talk about, but when you think about countless people that take their lives due to not being understood, heard or ignored, it’s definitely a topic we should talk about and value way more in this generation and society then we do.
NIH recognizes these talented essay winners for their thoughtfulness and creativity in addressing youth mental health. These essays are written in the students' own words, are unedited, and do not necessarily represent the views of NIH, HHS, or the federal government.
Page published May 31, 2024
