Life is a phenomenal thing. There’s an opportunity available for everyone to find themselves and set out to accomplish their aspirations. It’s an incredible marvel that many people seek out and deserve to experience. Unfortunately, many people never live long enough to find inner peace. People die everyday, and some of the saddest deaths are suicides. It’s horrifying when somebody takes their own life, and it permanently alters those close to the deceased.

According to the most recent FCPS Youth Survey of eighth, 10th and 12th graders, 30 percent of students reported having depressive symptoms including irritability, withdrawal, fatigue and feelings of worthlessness. Of students, 17 percent reported having considered suicide, and 4 percent reported having attempted suicide. The mental health of students in Fairfax County isn’t stellar, to say the least.

The Lake Braddock administration responded to the problem with “Bruins Against Bullying,” a campaign within the student body. The campaign did an excellent job of pointing out why bullying is wrong, what it can do to victims and potential outcomes of bullying. The curse of students being dumped in trash cans has finally been lifted, although that could have also been due to the lids that were installed a couple years ago.

Bullying is a serious problem, but many students at LB don’t think it’s a problem at our school specifically. Whether this is because of the administration’s campaign or an overall cultural shift, it’s hard to say.

There’s a different threat to the mental health of our student body, however, that wasn’t touched on by the campaign: Being successful in Fairfax County comes with a lot of pressure that can build up into a crushing weight of stress if not properly handled. We live in an incredibly competitive school system that leads students to do so much to succeed. Students take AP classes and pile on extracurriculars to get into a good college so they can have a good future. If I had a dollar for every time we’ve been told that “you have to go college,” we might actually be able to fund our news publication. On the flip side, it’s rarely ever said that it’s okay to not go to college, that perhaps trade school would be a better option. Many of us have let our health take a back seat to the massive workloads we have to deal with. Poorly planned schedules of deadlines can lead to successive nights of little sleep that harm us in several ways. It’s an unhealthy way to live; regrettable, permanent mistakes are sometimes made under exhaustion with long-lasting effects. We’re frequently pushed to our limit by our parents, society, the system and ourselves. When some people reach the limit, they decide that they can’t take it and end it for good.

Nobody should ever have to feel this way. We’re not perfect; we need to stop being told that we have to be. We need to stop stigmatizing depression and let people feel it’s okay to find help. It’s about time we care more whether somebody is happy than whether they have an A on their report card.