This Is What They Call Teenage Angst

Struggles faced by teenagers and young adults are real challenges; they are not just phases or trends. Sweeping emotions and experiences under a rug of nonchalance further ostracizes young people, and it is unhealthy to do this. All emotions and experiences are valid. A person's age should not influence whether we take their struggles seriously.

As a society, we project the false idea that if someone is truly struggling, there would be major signs indicating they are close to a breakdown. But how would you know the signs if you don't listen? How can you identify the signs if you don't pay attention? It's not going to be written on someone's forehead that they are experiencing negative emotions, and they won't shout it over the noise of your ignorance.

It's time for us, as a society, to stop belittling and invalidating others' experiences to keep ourselves comfortable. It's time we look each other in the eye and acknowledge that we are not alone. You are not alone.