I definitely agree with this more than 100%. Especially with college students, they may be careful during the first few weeks and fear the idea of "breaking rules" that have been implemented due to COVID. However, as students stay on campus, I feel like some may feel more loosened away from the restrictions and start-up parties or break the rules. I think it comes a lot from the idea that people nearby them have not gotten COVID, so they believe that they can sort of loosen up their precautions and enjoy a bit more of campus life. This does not mean that I would rather have people on campus having NO SOCIAL LIFE, though. This means that people should take precautions when they hang out or study with their friends. I also wanted to share an observation of the logistics of my local college in Utah. I have seen only about 3-5% of the students on campus wearing a mask. There has been a warning to wear masks even when they are outside, but NO ONE is following that notification. I also see a ton of people going to the gym and fitness center, which is a place that COVID can spread rapidly due to the warm air and turbulent airflow. Additionally, there have been many students from that college who are comparing their COVID cases with other colleges within the state and basically showing off that they are "doing better". I find that a bit concerning because it gives off the energy of becoming laid back because their college is doing fine. In fact, all of the colleges within Utah are NOT doing fine, though. I think a lot of people within my region are forgetting that the amount of testing taking place has SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED, so we don't really know the true data.

I think that e-cigarettes were meant to have smokers stop cigarettes, but it has created a new group of people to get addicted to nicotine. To put it into perspective, CDC performed a survey that revealed that "4.9 million high school and middle school students used tobacco in the last 30 days, an increase from 3.6 million in 2017." - Julia Belluz of Vox NIH was very concerned with the rapid increase of teenagers using a device that is continuously modernizing as it makes it hard for institutions like CDC and NIH to truly determine the health impacts of the products. This has also caused the FDA to quickly call for stronger regulations on the amount of nicotine in each pod of e-cigarettes.

It is the way e-cigarette companies are marketing their products. I have stated this in another discussion, but companies like JUUL have been using social media in order to reach out to the Millennial generation and Generation Z that their products are aligned with freedom, "coolness", and trendiness. But what makes it so trendy? According to Julia Belluz of Vox News, the new design of e-cigarettes are really appealing among young generations because of its USB shape. This new shape just makes e-cigarettes seem like a modern tool that everyone has for convenience. No one can tell the real difference between a USB and an e-cigarette, which gives teen the insight that they will not get in trouble if they carry around such an item. It is just how modernized e-cigarettes have become as young generations love items that make them look modern or trendy. However, the shape is extremely deceiving because a video called "How Juul made nicotine go viral" by Vox explains the amount of nicotine within a normal e-cigarette and the company Juul that made e-cigarettes "trendy". I will attach the link down below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=288&v=AFOpoKBUyok

I feel like e-cigarettes companies are mostly targeting the youth or the younger population because of the flavors that are being produced. For example, many e-cigarette companies are creating child-appealing flavors like cotton candy or whipping cream flavor. According to a self-reported survey by the CDC and FDA, about 31 percent of the student respondents stated that they use e-cigarettes because of "the availability of flavors, such as mint, candy, fruit or chocolate". This is simply a marketing tactic for e-cigarette companies because they find that targeting teenage population seems to be the most effective way in building revenue compared to targeting other populations. It is not just shown with the flavors that they produce, though. According to the truth initiative, e-cigarette companies have been heavily using social media to market and advertise their products. For example, JUUL had spent about $1 million for social media to promote images of vaping and trying to show the users that vaping is a huge trend in the 21st century. The fact that companies like JUUL use social media to promote their products fully shows that e-cigarette companies are aiming for a young population as social media is widely used by Millennials and Generation Z. https://truthinitiative.org/news/3-main-reasons-youth-use-e-cigarettes https://truthinitiative.org/news/4-marketing-tactics-e-cigarette-companies-use-target-youth

I think that possibly vaping could be a little bit more concerning than marijuana because vaping has been extremely popular among teenage students. The FDA had considered taking action in regulating e-cigarettes because there was a 78% increase in US teenagers using e-cigarettes. I never considered vaping a huge problem to the teenage population until I entered into my senior year of high school. Even though I am from a religious and conservative town, most everybody in my grade vapes. I would witness people in my grade vaping inside of bathrooms, at athletic games, and even on social media. It seems like many teenagers regard vaping as a sign of maturity or 'chillness'. This may be just be a Utah thing, but a lot of teenagers really want to give off the 'California' skater vibes. As a result, they think that vaping would provide them that type of image. I am not sure what the real connection is with vaping and giving off a California vibe, but vaping definitely has some major damaging impacts to our health and seeing people starting it at a young age is alarming. The Johns Hopkins Medicine has stated that nicotine is an extremely addictive substance that just makes users want more. Furthermore, nicotine has stated to be highly toxic, which increases blood pressure and then increases the risks of suffering through a heart attack. On top of nicotine, there are also unknown substances to the e-cigarette due to the diverse flavoring provided for users. If you would like to see more impacts of vaping here is the link: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/5-truths-you-need-to-know-about-vaping

I definitely do think that media has a slight role in normalizing the usage of marijuana, but there are times when media brings awareness to the dangerous affects of drug usage. We cannot always perceive media as a negative impact to our society as there are times when media brings awareness to the problems that exist in our society. However, I do believe that there is more content that normalizes the usage of marijuana than content that brings awareness to our communities. One big example that I have seen on social media is young teens claiming their celebrity crush to be 'sexy' for posting content about them smoking or drinking. I guess it is a person's preference to whether they think smoking and drinking is 'sexy'. However, I definitely do not think that it has the greatest impact to our future generations as young teens don't think about the negative impacts of such actions. Overall, I think that media has a negative impact on how we perceive drugs and other substances that are addictive!

I am from Utah, and I was definitely shocked to hear that my state would be legalizing medical marijuana because Utah is a pretty conservative state. However, I do not want to say that Utah legalized medical marijuana "completely" because Utah state legislatures have capped the production by allowing only 10 four acre marijuana farms. They believe that this will be enough to follow the idealistic situation after legalizing marijuana. According to Bethany Rodgers of the Salt Lake Tribune on April 21st, 2019, "If the cannabis industry perfectly complied with Utah’s expectations, it would grow 84,292.98 plants annually. These perfectly obedient plants would offer 10.4 million grams of THC (marijuana’s psychoactive compound), enough to supply exactly 100,000 patients with 2 grams of cannabinoids per week for the entire year. The supply would meet the demand, and no cannabis buds would be left over to sit in storehouses, at risk of falling into the black market’s clutches." Bethany Rodgers predicts that this cap will leave the cannabis pharmacies almost blank for the early days of opening.

I definitely think music is a common method for people to apply in their lives when they are stressed or depressed. When a person turns on their favorite music, they will definitely feel more comfortable or forget about their stressful life. For me, I love the feeling of listening to my favorite song and then just focusing on the lyrics to distract myself from my busy school work or stress. I usually listen to songs that are upbeat or happy because these songs usually make me smile or jam to the music so that I can relax myself from all my stress. There are also many songs with lyrics that help people withstand their depression and stress because sometimes people can relate to the lyrics. For example, Junky by Brockhampton is a song that covers depression and homophobia, which can help some people feel like they are not alone. My favorite line is "The hard part always seems to last forever" from Khalid's Saved.

Everyone experiences stress and sometimes stress is good for motivating people to finish tasks up. However, there is definitely a border that distinguishes stress and depression. Mental Health America has stated that the greatest between depression and stress is that depression lasts longer. This border or limit is different for everybody, though. There are some people who can withstand their stress more than others, so it is kind of hard to determine a specific point. As a result, I will share a list of stress and depression symptoms that was uploaded by Mental Health America. I think this will be the best way for anyone to realize if their friend or loved one is suffering through depression. SOURCE: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/stressed-or-depressed-know-difference

South Korea is currently being engulfed in some corrupt and complicated issues related to the entertainment industry. The first case is Burning Sun and the second case is Jang Ja-Yeon's suicide. Jang Ja-Yeon was a South Korean actress who appeared in a famous drama called Boys Over Flowers. She had committed suicide in 2009 and investigations have concluded that her death was caused by her own depression. However, many women in South Korea have urged for a reinvestigation for Jang Ja-Yeon's real reason for her death. After reinvestigation, media and news sources have revealed that Jang Ja-Yeon had taken her life due to the sexual abuse she had experienced throughout her acting career. Jang Ja-Yeon was ordered by her agency to participate in sexual activities with VIPs in order to get benefits. The actress was forced to do things that she did not confirm to do and had taken her life because she could not handle it anymore. Ja-Yeon's case has shown the dirty and corrupt system that Korean industries do in order to create rising stars. We cannot conclude that every single celebrity goes through this corrupt system, but we can see that the entertainment industry does not care about their celebrity's mental health as they only care about how much they raise with that celebrity. For Jang Ja-Yeon, she was being treated like an object causing her to lose her quality of life and commit suicide. It is sad that the public was not aware of such corruption for almost 7 to 8 years. However, Jang Ja-Yeon's case is being reinvestigated and spurring a strong Me Too Movement in South Korea.

I also agree because I have read some articles from CDC and Harvard Health, and I find that one of the greatest reasons for depression in older adults is due to the idea that they find no purpose in their life. Some factors that contribute to this idea is: 1. They have lost their significant other or their friends 2. They experience many of their functions being limited 3. Some older adults may experience depression because they are ill, which sort of goes along with #2 4. Retired from their job, where they do not get used to the transition from job to retirement. I never thought that technology would make the elderly feel isolated! (Thanks for sharing the idea) I definitely do agree that modern technology has made the elderly feel isolated, though. The older adults probably feel out of place because they find the world around them changing, but they do not change much.

CDC had stated that most healthcare providers because that older adults with depression is just a natural reaction or a natural process in aging. As a result, healthcare providers see no point in seeking treatment for their depression. Furthermore, the symptoms that arise from depression can be mistaken as symptoms for other illnesses like dementia. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/mentalhealth/depression.htm https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Recognizing_and_treating_depression_in_the_elderly

Even though geriatric depression is not as common as depression in young people. However, websites like CDC and WebMD have stated that geriatric depression in most common in people who have illnesses. The National Institute of Health had stated that older adults get depressed because they have either lost their significant other or retired from their job. Older adults feel like they have lost their purpose of life. However, I believe that the greatest problem with geriatric depression C is that older people are not treated or diagnosed correctly. This is because healthcare providers believe that older adults in depression is just a natural process for those who are ill. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/depression-and-older-adults https://www.cdc.gov/aging/mentalhealth/depression.htm https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-elderly#1

I definitely agree with your argument about movies and shows portraying a conformed view on mental disorders. Most Korean dramas connect OCD with people who fear germs and "clean-freaks". However, the symptoms of a mental disorder are different from person to person. Media does depict the struggles that people diagnosed with mental illness experience, but the media is definitely not accurately educating the public about mental illness.

Overall, I think Generation Z is one of the most depressed generations because those born and growing up in this generation are exposed to a competitive life. Whether it is in academics or in extra-curricular activities, parents seem push their students to get extra-tutoring or participate in extra-curricular activities at a young age. As a result, teenagers tend to hold the idea that 1st place is the only winner. Due to this competitive atmosphere, teenagers tend to compare themselves to others rather than reflecting on their own performance because they just have to be the best compared to everyone else. Furthermore, Generation Z was and is born with many opportunities and resources. For example, there are a lot of videos and articles that show teenagers how to get into an ivy league college. As a result, students start to gain confidence and ambition in going to an ivy league because they have the instructions with them. These resources are also available to parents, causing parents to push their children to follow the instructions or develop expectations for their children. However, these instructions are easier said than done, which causes frustration and low self-esteem because generation Z teenagers think, "If that person can do it, I can do it." If they cannot do it though, it causes teenagers to possibly to think they are "stupid" or "useless". There are also a lot of tutoring and consulting resources that parents apply their students to, which causes a sense of high expectations. As a result, if the teenager is not able to meet the expectation, they feel "useless" or "unimportant". Overall, Generation Z is just too competitive, which is caused by the amount of resources available to us.

I definitely do agree with the fact that some vaccines are very costly, which is the sad reality. At this moment, though, vaccines are the "cheapest" method compared to other therapeutic options. There is a program called VFC that provides free vaccines for children through 18 years of age if families cannot afford vaccinations for their children. Most vaccines are covered by insurance companies. However, I do think that there needs to be a better system that provides vaccinations for minorities who cannot afford vaccines. For those who are allergic to egg proteins or gelatin, they can get licensed vaccines like the live attenuated influenza vaccine. There are many types of vaccines that will match the person's immune system.

That is very interesting! It is amazing to see the development of vaccines so that they are more effective. All of these viruses infect children near the age of 5 years old, and I am fascinated with the idea that all of the viruses are required shots before a child goes to school. I think it will be a better method than getting 5 independent shots because children definitely hate getting shots. I hope that there are more vaccines that are able to target several vaccines with one shot because that will very convenient. Thanks for sharing about Vaxelis.

I definitely agree with the fact that anti-vaxxers aren't completely ignorant. There are several reasons for people to build skepticism towards the profits and development of vaccines. For example, Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Ltd. produced a fake vaccine for rabies. Changchun Changsheng sold about 250,000 doses of vaccine to infants. (The article will be attached below) There are some religious reasons why people do not get vaccines. When scandals like this arise, though, people will obviously build skepticism towards vaccines. However, I believe that the media focuses too much on the negatives of vaccines rather than how effective vaccines are to society. I think anti-vaxxers are just very aware of the negatives, which causes mistrust towards the effectiveness of vaccines, and the belief that vaccines are immoral tools to create profit. (https://www.npr.org/2018/07/23/631509868/chinese-companys-flawed-vaccines-draw-anger-and-a-criminal-inquiry)