One thing that really gets under my skin is when people aren’t kind to themselves – when people talk poorly about themselves, and can’t see the good in them. In the grander scheme of things, this usually has to do with mental health issues. Our society needs more self love and appreciation. When people can’t express self love or acceptance, it gets under my skin because I don’t always know what to do. It’s sometimes hard for me to tell if people are being serious or just joking, or if I should go up to them to talk about it, or if I should tell someone like their parent instead. I know a few things about this issue, but definitely want to learn more about it, and try to figure out ways I and others can help. I know that people of all different ages can develop mental health issues. From what I know, mental health issues can sometimes go away within a little while, but they can also last for tremendous amounts of time. I know that mental health is a HUGE issue that is often overlooked. From my experiences, people who are dealing with depression sometimes just laugh it off when the issue of depression is brought up. This is one example of when I get confused as to what I should do. I don’t always know whether I should just go along with it, or if I should actually say something. However, I do know that mental health issues are NOT a joke. I know that saying suicidal things, or making jokes about depression is never funny. For me, it’s hard to deal with things like this when it involves someone like a close friend. When it comes to this sort of thing, I often have conflicting emotions because I don’t want to make anyone feel more upset or hurt by me, and I definitely don’t want to make things worse, but I also know I should do something about it.

Everyone in our society, including myself, needs to be more educated about depression and mental health issues – about how they develop; why they develop.Our society needs to know what to do when they notice that someone seems different than usual, and how to help.

I have many wonderings about mental health issues. How do they develop? How manageable are they? Is it different for each person? But most importantly, how can we help? To me, this last question is the most important, because if we can help people deal with their mental health issues, or help them find help, we can change someone’s life. Imagine the impact you or I could have on a person’s life, simply by being educated on what to do when we start to notice symptoms of depression. No one deserves to feel bad about themselves. No one deserves to be depressed or have mental health issues. No one deserves to be treated poorly. And I know we can help. But the question is, how? I want to do my best to find the answers to these questions, so I can make a difference. What can we do to change someone’s life?