BY: BIRENDRA
Why do youngsters appear to be covered up with exhaustion? The social media culture we see growing today, the weight of letting your followers see perfection to catch up with new social media trends and to be online most of the hours. Today, we have made the world a global village with countless digital platforms. The irony is that I don’t even remember the last time I slept without scrolling through reels or watching some random videos on YouTube. Yes, me belonging to this era, we are the most connected generation while mental health is still a topic that is less talked about among our circles.
Along with the social media pressure they must deal with the rapidly increasing technology, there comes an academic burden to score highest not for self-satisfaction, but to meet parents’ or teachers’ expectations and that constant fear of not getting along with the ‘race’ that we are running out of time. Is our brain ready to process every new image or video as we scroll down the feed minute after minute? Actually, we are forcing our brain to operate in a way it was never meant to be. The way social media portray unrealistic beauty standards, beauty privilege ultimately results in comparison, pressure to look beautiful and happy. We care about increasing thousands of followers on Instagram yet nobody to talk to when things get hard. Most of the young people have mastered of pretending to be okay hiding silent struggles to fit in peer groups, family, and society. Having said this, digitalization is not solely responsible to contribute to deteriorating mental health but also family and societal expectations with their academic grades and career paths. Many are forced to become doctor or engineer or such career paths that provides high family reputation in society ignoring what actually their children have interest upon. They must suppress their interests, giving up on their goals and future for the sake of parents, walking into the road pushed by somebody else. When mental health problems are shared, many are told that their problem is too small, not too serious to be talked and are sometimes taunted as being overly dramatic and attention seeking. This might result in compelling them to think that constant overthinking and exhaustion is normal that every human being deals with while it is totally opposite. The conversation with parents becomes less, the feeling of always wanting to be alone, to avoid social gatherings being absorbed in only one corner of the room makes mental health even worse.
We shall stop glorifying silent battles with an outer coating of being ‘fine’ when nothing is. Seeking therapy should not be stigmatized saying that it’s just teenage mood swings or calling them crazy. Anything kind of pain either physical, mental or emotional, shouldn’t be ignored, compared or ranked at any cost but instead, we shall understand that young minds should always be inspired and feel safe seeking any kind of help. The safe spaces to share and listen can be initiated and created at homes, schools, and colleges without judgment.