In today's age of the internet, nothing is taken truly seriously. Too many times have I witnessed a PSA skipped, a notification ignored, and a friend's cries for help overlooked. Way too often do we look at something and think, "Well, that would never happen to me." Until it does and your life is changed forever. Mental health is one of these things. At fourteen I was diagnosed with clinical depression. No one in my life understood how to go about my condition, not even me. I didn't understand why I felt like this or how to make it go away. I ended up spending hours online because it was the only way to ignore my thoughts. I can remember being fifteen and looking up things like "least painful way to die" or "costs of average funeral." There would always be this notification that would pop up, and every time I would scroll past. "Help is available. Speak with someone today." I thought I didn't need it; I had the solution. I had to die. I attempted suicide three times under the age of eighteen. I was hospitalized once and spent years testing different combinations of medications for my depression and anxiety, thinking that I was just continuing the burden on my loved ones, that the longer I lived, the worse it made it, and that if they would just let me die, the problem would go away. Social media continued to enable these ideas. I continued to escape and follow people online that thought the way I did, rather than seek a different, safer, solution. I genuinely believe that if there were more people online in my age group that posted positive and effective tools for dealing with mental health issues and suicide prevention, I wouldn't have spent so much time refusing treatment and hiding my pain from my loved ones. I think that social media and the internet currently enable escapism, allow for non-progressive ideas of mental health to be pushed onto younger generations, and do not effectively encourage safe solutions for depression and suicidal ideation while allowing for corporations to promote products with no consideration for their consumers. Now, majoring in business with a minor in communications, I hope to solve issues like these. Social media should be a place for people to come together and connect like it was intended to. We should have information communicated to audiences by representatives in their age range, as audiences are more likely to listen to those most like them. There should be additional advertising for mental health resources and social media usage should be regulated to limit escapism and internet addiction. I hope that one day I can work with mental health organizations and help them spread their messages to kids like me. Teens who feel like suicide is the only solution. I want them to not only know there are other paths, but allow them to be open to seeing that. For too long has the internet and social media been used to enable the negative ideation of those with mental illnesses rather than help them discover and utilize safe and effective solutions to their pain. I hope to be part of the solution.