13 Reasons Why: Time to Talk About Mental Health in Our Society

Mental health issues are a growing concern for society and have dramatically increased in number in the past few years. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 450 million people worldwide are diagnosed with a mental illness. Most people are ashamed of their psychological complaints and do not dare to open up and talk about it. It is time to break the taboo on mental illness.That is why there should be more awareness regarding mental health problems.

Mental health problems are mainly caused by pressure from society and social media. It can affect the whole life in general. The pressure is increasing. According to Kelvin H. Chin and The Meditation Foundation, the millennials do feel more pressure to succeed. The digital landscape of today, has put increased pressure on teenagers and it shows, because 67 percent of the millennials experienced a lot of pressure, compared to the 40 percent of Generation X and 23 percent of the Baby Boomers. According to recent research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, young adults spending a lot of time on social media, can more easily be confronted with depression and stress. Besides that, the pressure can cause anxiety, depression and dysfunction. Nowadays society imposes too much pressure and that is concerning. There should be more awareness about the negative pressure from society.

A lot of employees and students are suffering from burnout complaints. Burnout is a state of physical and mental exhaustion, caused by stress. It makes someone feel stressed all the time and it kills productivity. Lately there is an increase in the number of burn-outs. The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) showed the rising number of burn outs. From 12,4 percent in 2013 to 14,6 percent last year. To recover from a burnout people need a lot of support and attention. Besides that a listening ear, relaxation and positive vibes. More awareness about burnouts should help people to understand and recognize symptoms. People need to know more about burnouts to help and support people with those mental problems.

The mental health issues are a growing problem in schools, because a lot of teenagers are having a hard time at school. Teenagers are vulnerable during their school period. They are often bullied, according to Anti Bullying Foundation, 45 percent of the teenagers experience bullying before the age of eighteen. The suicide rate among teenagers has been steadily on the rise since 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention asserts that 47.173 Americans died because of suicide in 2017. Raising the awareness on warning signs for bullying, depression and mostly suicide can help decrease the mental health problems. 13 Reasons why, has brought suicide among teenagers to the attention, by telling Hannah’s life story. They wanted to raise the awareness of the mental health among teenagers and emphasize the hard time they can have at school. The mental health of the students is very important and must be a priority and therefore should be more awareness.

Most people think that bringing suicide to the attention stimulates suicide. That is, because 13 Reasons Why shows a lot of confrontational images about suicide. Besides that, after the premiere of 13 Reasons Why, the search on 'how to commit suicide' raised with 26 percent, according to CNN. However, the 'suicide prevention' raised with 23 percent and the 'suicide hotline number' with 21 percent. Bringing suicide to the attention helps people to talk about their problems and shows teenagers that they are not alone. The prevention is increasing, because of the awareness the Netflix series gave to this subject. Bringing suicide to the attention does not stimulate suicide, but shows a positive stimulant and an increasing prevention.

The pressure from society is increasing and causes a lot of mental health problems. Burnouts, depressions, dysfunctions and suicide thoughts are the most common health illnesses. Raising the awareness is important, because paying more attention to the tragedy of youth suicide can help decrease the suicide. Shedding light on how to spot warning signs of depression and burnouts can help decrease the mental health problems in general. It is important to be more aware about the mental health problems to help and stimulate the victims. That is why there should be more awareness regarding the mental health problems.