Research Memo #3

        For my research memo #3, I focused on the media for my topic of depression and suicide. I have three sources that I am going to post on my blog. The first source is a video from YouTube. The video is called teen suicide letter. The second source that I found is a song. The song is called perfect by pink. Finally, my last source is a commercial. These three sources helped me in my research because it showed me what I hope to show other people.  What I want to show people is that  there is hope.

My first source is a video from YouTube that give lines from and actual suicide letter written my a teenage girl. “I’m alone, no one cares whether I live or die...” That quote was taken from the video and it shows that a teen that has depression or is suicidal feels. She felt like she was worthless and no one would notice whether she lived or died.  “I hurt so bad, what can I do?” She’s lost and doesn’t know how to feel better. In the video she asks for someone to help her. This video shows that teen suicide is happening all around us, it’s real.

  My second source is a song called perfect by pink. This song tells a story about a girl who is suicidal. She thinks that she isn’t worth the trouble and she thinks horribly of herself. The video for the song shows that she carves perfect into her arm because that’s what she wants to be. But pink sings about not worrying about the little imperfections. Pink tells her that she is perfect just the way she is because no one is perfect. “Change the voices in your head, make them like you instead.” These lyrics are saying that you need to believe in yourself and change what you think of yourself.

       Finally, my last source I choose a commercial. This commercial shows a future where a young student commits suicide. But when it flashes back to reailty, he hasn’t died yet.  “I didn’t take him seriously,” One of his fellow classmates knew he spoke about suicide but didn’t think anything of it. “He had such big mood swings, I should’ve done something,” another one of his classmates noticed that he had been having mood swings that were probably caused by depression, bipolar disorder or a different mental disease. Suicide is not a joke. This commercial is showing people that if you think someone is depressed or suicidal you can help them. You don’t have to be a cop or a therapist; you just have to be a friend who will listen to what’s going on with them.  Then you can get them the help they need.

        Overall, media is a very helpful source for research. It helps to spread awareness through TV, magazines, pictures, songs and other sources of media. I believe that these sources will better educate people on how to help depressed or suicidal teens because it shows them the reality that suicide is all around us; its real. By using media to spread awareness, we can understand how to handle situations like these if we ever come across it.