What is the modern adolescent experience? Such a broad question has many answers, but more and more of them are related to the issues and stigmas surrounding mental health. Mental health has become an increasingly important topic of discussion over the past decade, particularly among adolescents, and one would assume that it is becoming an increasingly prevalent problem among young people. It seems that in recent times, adolescents are increasingly vulnerable to a multitude of problems. Issues like anxiety and depression are affecting a larger portion of teens than ever before, and that's worrying to say the least. Books like Speak help to raise awareness and show how mental health can affect young people and how a person's (especially a teenager's) mental state can be affected by different circumstances. In this research paper, I will explore things like media expectations, trauma, and other factors contributing to increased anxiety and depression among adolescents and explain how Speak represents them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay First, let’s review some statistics. Has mental health really become an issue in recent years, or are people just becoming more aware of it? This conversation has been going on for a while now, and enough research has been done to have an answer. According to a study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Health Index, the rate of diagnosed depression and anxiety has increased by 63% among youth aged 12 to 17 since 2013. 47% for boys and 65%. for girls. It is clear that mental disorders are affecting more and more adolescents, it is true. However, such things do not happen without reason. Something that happened in recent years must be at least partially responsible. This brings us to our first factor regarding young people, namely the expectations that the media imposes on them. As much as some of us might not like to admit it, we are all at least somewhat affected by the way things are presented in the world. media, for better or for worse. In this case, it is clearly for the worse, as more and more young people are simply unable to keep up with the ever-increasing standard of what they should and should not be. Speak illustrates this concept throughout the story, as Melinda, the protagonist, faces all kinds of negative behavior from her classmates because she doesn't fit in. This elusive standard of what it means to fit in has caused much distress among today's youth. , and the book serves to demonstrate this very clearly. This is demonstrated by the following quote from the novel Speak, on page 4: “I entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I have no one to sit with. I am an outcast. Melinda does not fit the standards that teenagers are held to today, and this is made clear in the first few pages, and is immediately rejected for it. Much of the modern adolescent experience can be summed up by this quote, as the struggle to adapt to what is deemed correct or good as well as the social punishments for not doing so are clearly captured in this scene . The illnesses in adolescents, especially young women, that Speak covers are traumatic events, especially things like sexual assault. A..