The terms “I’m going to kill myself” or “You should go kill yourself” has been used by many teenagers in the last few years. Most people say this as a joke without even realizing it is hurting others around them. This needs to come to a stop. When people tell others that they should kill themselves, they don’t know what the other person is thinking or going through. Just this one saying can take a toll on one person’s mental health. When someone says that they are going to kill themselves it can be hard to tell the difference between who is actually being serious about wanting to die. Many do not realize what a serious problem these words are. This proves that people are not getting the help they need because they don’t feel comfortable talking to others or feel that others would not care what they have to say. The saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is not true. Even though this saying is used as a way to stay positive and about staying strong about not listening to the people who are saying hurtful words, what people say does truly hurt.

When people have depression or anxiety, they can have trouble telling others their feelings and finding a safe place to talk to someone. Many people say that going to a therapist to talk about their feelings makes them weak. This stigma needs to be erased because it just makes people with mental illnesses feel worse. Everyone, no matter where they are in life, needs someone comfortable to talk to.

Society shows the world an image that they believe that the rest of the society should follow. Most women want to have the ideal hourglass shape while most men want to be very tall and muscular. Because of what is represented today, people generally who want to lose weight turn to eating disorders. All around us we are being put down with perfect statues of human beings that tell us to be skinny with flawless faces and hair. These are not the reality but people still buy into them anyway, crushing their mental health. Advertisements, movies, and commercials need to show more diverse body types to show that we all don’t need to fit the mold that is portrayed for us. These influences can lead to many mental illnesses. These are terrible for teens because they have to deal with pressures of the world and having to think about the number on the tag shouldn’t be one of their priorities. These different influences tell us that we should change who we are. The words of society do hurt us mentally and the advertisers don’t realize or even care. All they want is to make a profit.

While there are stereotypes for women and men, people that are part of the LGBTQ+ community also deal with people telling them who they are is wrong. On a daily basis people tell them nasty things that should never be said to a person because they may like someone of the same gender.

When it comes to school, society puts pressure on students by telling them that they have to go to college. It is expected by parents and teachers for students to get amazing grades and partake in AP classes, even though everyone’s minds think differently and everyone has different interests. Students in school should not have to feel ashamed that they are taking a regular course rather than an advanced one. Being forced into these harder classes hurts the minds of the students because it makes them feel that they are not intelligent enough for the real world. There needs to be an end to high expectations off all students because not everyone excels academically.

All aspects of society need to be aware of what they are doing to the mental health of the rest of the world. Without everyone working together to create a society that helps others with mental illnesses, we won’t be able to create a future with people of strong mental minds.