"Are you okay?" Three simple words that are so underrated. These words can open up a world of different answers. If I had a penny for every time I have been asked these three simple words I would be a billionaire by now. However, these words don't get used in the pure amount of seriousness that they truly mean. The most practical solution to helping more people who struggle with mental health is simply reaching out and providing more of an understanding. The best way to reach more people would be the use of social media. Tik Tok would be the most effective way to reach people. Due to the wide variety of people that use this platform, it would be a great way to connect. Tik Tok and social media in general provide the ability for people to share their own stories of mental health struggles. This chance to share stories allows people to know that they are not alone in what happens. It could also be used to describe symptoms of mental health and the reasons behind mental health. When one person can be more open about their journey it makes other people feel safe in sharing their own. Being open and sharing one's own mental health issues allows for others to feel safe and to make connections. This is the practical solution to reaching more people. If one can be honest with someone they don't know too well it can make a deep impact.

The summer after fifth grade I had a party with all of my closest friends. After everyone had fallen asleep, I did something I had never done before. I picked up a kitchen knife and purposefully did the thing that parents always warned me about, “Be careful not to cut yourself with the knife.” I knew when doing this that there would be blood. I didn’t know that it would feel so good. That it would become an addiction. It was so fulfilling when I was doing it even though I felt a vast emptiness in my chest afterwards; I had finally found something that made me feel better. I suffered with my addiction for years; I would do really well and then relapse. Relapse. Relapse. Relapse. Finally, in the middle of junior year, I made the most life changing decision for myself. After seeing my friends suffer and having friends who had multiple suicide attempts, I knew I couldn’t let myself fall too deep. I had hit my lowest and I was scared of what my mind was capable of. I struggled to get out of bed, had irrational mood swings, stopped brushing my hair, and gained weight. I continued to get good grades and show up to school. Everyone around me believed I was okay. I didn’t want to die but I wanted a break; I needed a break. Sleeping until I was ready to encounter the world sounded the best to me or maybe some type of accident would put me in the hospital for a long time. I reached out to anyone who would listen. I used social media to my advantage to find posts and profiles that I could relate to. It took me so long to be able to comprehend how much one’s thoughts can control them. Any type of opportunity to help me, I took it. Right before the start of senior year I found a therapist to continue my growth because I knew I had hit a roadblock. She gave me the resources to help me have a better understanding of myself. I figured out things like my anxious attachment style, the triggers of my depression and anxiety, how to keep myself motivated, and how to better communicate. With that better understanding of myself I could fully start to embrace who I was and I wasn’t embarrassed about it. Starting the school year this year I was nominated for a class, Hope Squad. This class is to help raise awareness for mental health and to help with suicide prevention inside of our high school. I believed this was the next step in my growth. Being able to use my past to help others is such an amazing opportunity. I am now very open about my mental health so people who do not talk about it don’t feel so alone. Finally accepting that I needed help led me to so many useful and amazing things that I have in my life now. I have grown and developed a better idea for what I want for myself and my future. Now I know that my passion is helping people and giving them the resources they need to succeed. I am proud of the person that I am and the person that I will become. I still have my days where I think that I have lost all control--where I feel like I have made no progress in my mental health. However, I have kept the kitchen knife away for a month and twenty seven days.

Depression. The silent killer in our world today. I have struggled with depression since I was 12. Some people cannot talk openly about this illness and that's okay. For me, one of my ways of coping is talking openly about it. I want to try and let anyone know that what they're feeling is normal. I have been a mental health advocate for as long as I can remember. I am now a part of a school program called Hope Squad, which acts to break the mental health stigma, prevent suicide, and raise awareness. This program is amazing because I can take my own ideas to try and reach out to my peers with full support. I am the social media manager for our school's Hope Squad. My purpose is to spread awareness. Social media is the best way to reach kids today. We have seen a steady increase in our following on Instagram and TikTok. In fact, we have started reaching students who don't even have Hope Squad. It is an amazing feeling to be able to reach people I have never spoken to before and let them know they are not alone. It is so vital to create a community online due to how awful the internet can be. Kids need to know they're loved; they need these reminders and social media gives us that chance.