TRUE ME

hi

my name is adiksha mullik i’m a junior

at south brunswick high school

and i have created a social togetherness

platform called true

me i heard a story from 1970

a young boy would bring a peanut butter

sandwich to school every day for lunch

and would get made fun of one day he

brought us up for lunch but he still got

bullied

no one knew that he couldn’t afford

anything else now

flash forward to 2018 is a little indian

girl sitting by herself

as she opens her lunchbox the smell of

different spices entered the air

everyone avoids her she’s seen as

different as though she’s an alien

for someone at such a young age to be

treated as if they’re not human

can be traumatizing these are the roots

of emotional instability

things that we may not be aware of but

are deep rooted inside of us

so why why haven’t we evolved why is it

that our language culture

ethnicity race and religion are seen as

things that divide us instead of what

brings us together

the world around us is constantly

changing new technological discoveries

are being made every day

but what about us as the world around us

is becoming more and more dependent on

technology

we continue to dodge from the real world

a world full of deep meaningful

connections

teenage social isolation is creating an

upset of mental health problems

the pandemic has caused depression rates

to triple as people live in uncertainty

and disconnection

definitely strengthened teenagers is

leading psychological disconnection

narrowing their world this is causing a

decrease in memory

attention span and a loss of

self-confidence reducing one’s ability

to communicate and process information

it is resulting in inability to form

strong relationships with

empathy and understanding and eventually

leading to

conflicts losses of identity and an

inability

to be self-sufficient economically this

stress

prevents teenagers from forming their

own ideas and being unable to choose a

life for themselves with good

relationships

there are 7.2 billion people in the

world and out of that there are 1.2

billion kids from

ages 10 to 19 and too many of these

adolescents are at risk

there are 3 000 adolescents that are

dying each day for mostly from causes

that could have been prevented

the third leading cause of death between

15 to 19 year olds is self-harm

suicide is linked with terrible loss and

is extremely heartbreaking

so why is there such a big taboo in

mental health and suicide

well people with mental health issues

are often described as making a big deal

out of nothing

but their issues are real as all our

emotions and thoughts are

imagine if we treat a physical illness

like how we treat mental illness

people with broken legs would be told

that they were making a big deal out of

nothing

because people with worse conditions

existed well

everyone’s problems are their own and

they’re the ones experiencing it

so who are we to minimize what they’re

feeling going through

so how do we remove the stigma well we

must first change our perspective on how

we look at mental illness and

acknowledge it like we would acknowledge

any other physical

evidence then we must look for signs

because oftentimes

people with mental illnesses are crying

for help we just don’t notice

some signs include visible cutting

isolating oneself from others

giving away personal belongings and

avoiding doing things that were once

loved

however sometimes people who seem the

happiest are the ones who are suffering

the most

so it is important to check in on others

and never minimize their emotions

take this as a reminder to contact your

friends and family

and ask them how they are because even

the smallest act of kindness can make

someone else’s day

so be the light at the end of the tunnel

for someone

mental health problems have become a

major neuroscience focus

research is being done to understand the

impact that nature animals and

everything around us has in our mental

well-being

our mood is a result of our thoughts how

we think determines how we act

stress can help motivate people but too

much stress decrease our ability to form

short-term memory

this makes it harder for us to learn

actually recall past events

if we are unable to recall past certain

if we are unable to call a certain

memory

the neurons that the brain do not form

further strong connections

this impacts our gene expressions the

neural system that controls how we react

proving that our thoughts do in fact

have a major effect on us

i am now connecting with professor

bernick of the university of connecticut

to help her with her most important

research i admire what she does

her most recent research is on

relationship between

kids inside a classroom and bullying

experience like immigrant children

she’s trying to learn about bullying and

discrimination and figure out how

culture impacts relationships and the

impact that can have on one’s

self-identity

it may seem obvious but social

interaction is very important

humans learn from and process emotions

through connections with others

studies show that meeting up with your

friends and family can increase

one’s mental well-being and even reduce

depression the current situation caused

by the pandemic has made it hard for

people to meet up with their loved ones

but even the smallest act of calling

your friend can help us

this shows why having deep meaningful

connections with others

is essential tv and social media

plays a significant role in our lives

but they’re also the reason why there’s

such an

increase in loneliness it may seem like

social media

has helped increase connectivity among

people

that has only led to us creating fake

lives online

we are so invested in trying to show our

perfect lives online but we have lost

who we truly

are although interaction with others is

crucial for humans even the smallest

interaction with birds is supposed to be

very helpful a study shows that people

who are the happiest live in the area

with multiple bird species

birds are beautiful creatures and their

chirping can help anyone feel more

connected to nature

have you ever felt stressed when you

take a look at a dog or take a walk

outside and you feel a lot more calm and

clear

often times animals are just cute balls

of fur

but they also have a major effect on

them

oftentimes people find that the best way

for them to reduce their stress is to

talk to someone

but many times people do not find

themselves being comfortable talking to

others

people feel as though they might get

judged or feel actually opening up to

others

while animals provide us with the ears

that have no judgment

with the ongoing pandemic as mortal

world becomes technology-based

we need to provide ourselves with

real-world connections

it may not be safe right now to meet

with friends and family but having a

furry friend at home

can decrease the lilians that many of us

are feeling right now we face another

daunting problem artificial friends are

not

many companies are now creating

companion robots that are emotionally

intelligent

they’re going to make shows based on

these human and rover interactions

and as kids start watching these shows

they’re going to be more interested in

these robots

so as we enter this new area era of

companion robots

what does it mean for us well these

robots will provide support and

companionship for kids who do not have

others to talk to

they will be able to sense how a kid is

feeling and provide comfort to the kid

if they’re feeling upset or sad the

robots will essentially be an emotional

support for kids and will help them be

will help them open up about their

emotions on the other hand

these robots may decrease social

interaction for kids with others

many kids are now heavily reliant on

technology

these robots may take place of human

interaction and decrease social skills

in kids

as technology evolves day to day we must

evolve with it

we must evolve our social understanding

and connections because

in the end of the day no amount of

technology can change us at our core as

a social

being so how do we bring this change

well we must look back and understand

when we let go of our connections

we have to recognize the fake lies we

have created we have to go back to our

past to change our future

we must reconnect and allow ourselves to

open up with others

it is our duty to make sure that we do

not neglect the issue that we have at

our hands

and we must begin to bring change to

society around us so no

kid feels as though he or she is alone

thank you