This is Us
[Music]
i have three words for you
society behavior balance
now i know after i said these three
words it didn’t mean anything to you
why let me help with that now let’s put
these three words in context
and go deeper into its meaning
for society to have an impact on us it
first has to go through three stages
the first step is setting up how society
acts and how the norms are in it
society is a group of people living in a
community
or an organized group for a common
purpose
the second step is behavior this is the
way we act
or change to fit into the normal status
of society
no matter what that is
the last and final step is balance
this is when we have changed or made our
behavior mimic
the norms of society to feel like we fit
in and feel like the other people
in our environment see
now once you put these three words in
context they fall in place
one after another these three words are
compatible with each other
meaning you can’t have one without the
other you can’t have functioning society
without human behavior you can’t have
balance
without going through this two steps
this is what my talk focuses on it’s a
lack of respect
and awareness for society’s behavior
on mental illness pressuring us to play
a role in society
where we can’t express our pain freely
i like many other teenagers and people
who suffer from this issue
play a big role in society where i feel
i can’t tell people my issues because of
the fact that i’m scared
of looking different as a clear
consequence of me not expressing my
emotions and problems
i feel like managing those feelings in
my head
it’s not shown because over the years as
i’ve matured i have found ways to
minimize it
and keep myself calm but sometimes it’s
not that easy
my family has seen that side of me
before and i can explain it
as if it’s like a flip of a switch one
moment
i’m calm telling them i am fine and then
like a flip of a switch in the best
words i am a mess
it hurts for me not to be able to
project myself and tell someone how am i
feeling
i know that i’m at fault for that but
i’ve just been accustomed
over the years that it didn’t matter and
that if i didn’t
look at it or think about it then it
will heal and go away
on its own we always talked and heard
about increasing awareness for either
mental health
or illnesses whether some school social
media
or television ads we have all seen
something that explains them in detail
and how we can decrease the stigma
around this topic but we never take the
step forward
after that yes our generation has
improved
we have created more awareness and
breaking the stigma
about this topic is easy saying it’s
okay to be different
and it’s okay to be normal but this is
only a local fix
we have never really created awareness
that spreads globally
and calls for extreme change because
society
makes it and names it as irrelevant
this paragate is something we all play a
part in but we truly are taking steps
for it to break down that wall
that’s the issue we have we don’t ever
want to be a problem
at least i never did since i was young i
always wanted a happy life
with no problems at all but as i grew up
older
i realized that was never gonna be real
so i tried
i tried to make sure i wasn’t a problem
for either my parents
or my friends because i thought it would
be too much for them
when my friends or parents would ask me
if i was all right
or okay i would always respond with a
comment saying
yeah i’m fine or it’s okay
i did this because i didn’t want to be a
burden for them
explaining my problems that was going on
in my life or in my head
and expect them to relate and tell me it
was okay
was something i couldn’t imagine i never
liked expressing my feelings to others
because i always
heard that they were either sorry for me
or that they couldn’t hear it
but i never wanted to hear that because
it would always create issues for them
i just wanted them to relate but now
i know that’s never going to happen i
know they can never relate
but at least they’re willing to listen
this is a problem shown in others
because as a society
we ridicule showing our emotions saying
we are being too dramatic
or just not that serious when someone
comes up and tries to express a hint
that they might be suffering from a
mental problem
we say it’s a phase or go away
why because that’s what’s been imprinted
are in our heads
from social media before i think a great
example of this is what our current
president
joe biden as many as you know
our president suffers from a stuttering
problem or better known as a speech
disorder
he was born with it and there’s nothing
he can do to fix it
but that doesn’t stop social media for
putting the spotlight on his disorder
and poking fun at it i would always see
articles and videos of new news outlets
ridiculing it
and now that he’s our president it’s
only been emphasized
and put under a big bright light
if the most respected and the most
powerful person in our country
is getting teased about a disorder that
he can’t control
how are teenagers like i my age supposed
to go out in public
and confess that i have depression or
i’m suicidal
in schools we have a week dedicated to
mental health
but maybe instead of just dedicating
this time for a week called mental
health week
we inform and educate our communities
every day
informing others who suffer from this
issue that they
know that they are welcomed and that
it’s okay to feel different like i did
if we adopt these changes then our world
will be flipped on its side
seeing people opening up and accepting
who they are
putting our foot forward making
improvements on
programs that can help people who suffer
from these problems like i did
most importantly we can finally
acknowledge that this is a crucial
issue in our society and feeling
different is normal
and welcoming them in today’s world
then maybe from this we can find our
balance
in life thank you