In today’s society mental health is a growing issue. As we progress further into a world full of technology we also progress more into a world of teens and young adults who are struggling. We need to do something to fix this.
As a teenage girl, a universal experience is laying in bed scrolling through Instagram and looking at everyone else who is seemingly living the perfect life. They have the perfect family, friends, boyfriend, smile, hair, body, and of course outfits. They have enough money to get only expensive and latest in style clothing, they go on multiple out of country trips a year. They just seem to be all around perfect. What you do realize from the photos is this is only a highlight reel of their life. What you don’t know is currently they also are sitting in bed scrolling through instagram looking at all of the other seemingly perfect girls out there wishing they could be them. Just like you. We are all alike in this way.
Being a female in today’s day and age is so hard. The standards that need to be met to be considered pretty are almost unachievable. This is because of the technology that we currently have. People are seeing only edited photos but it’s hard to realize what’s true and what’s not because of the advancement of these types of apps. People then seem to get grossed out in real life when they see humane things. The texture on a woman’s face is now seen as dirty, acne is an absolute no, and any fat on the body is said to be disgusting. What we need to realize is that these things are almost impossible to achieve.
Everybody is human, people don’t have the “perfect” body or face structure. We all live different lives and we all look different. What we as a society need to realize is that we are all perfect and these ridiculous beauty standards need to go away. We are hurting these young females out here inside and out. We need to stick together and stop the judgment and start being real with each other for once.
If we don’t find a way to fix these problems the rates of those struggling with mental health issues are going to continue to rise. According to the National Library of Medicine, right now around 37% of teens and adolescents are said to have persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. To help you realize how large that number is, it is around 27,380,000 children, and teens. This needs to stop. These are supposed to be the “best years of your life”. But how can it be that when most of the time they aren’t even feeling happy or full of joy and excitement.
We need to put a stop to this and help these kids enjoy their life. These years should be spent surrounded by friends and learning how to be an adult together, not learning how to be happy. We need to find a fix.
