 Hey, before you freak out, just give me one second to make my case. What is up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel, my channel is all about mental health and what I like to do is pull different topics from pop culture to helpfully help you improve your mental and emotional well-being. So at the end of that stuff, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. So first, let's talk about it. You're probably wondering, Chris, why do you got Fortnite up in the background? Because I want to show all of you how young hip and cool I am. Duh. But yeah, I want to talk about Billie Eilish, her music, as well as her fans, okay? Don't get me wrong. I don't think there's anything wrong. Actually, let me rephrase that. I'm not saying Billie Eilish is a bad person. I'm not saying that she has bad music. I am not saying that her fans are bad people, okay? I can definitely relate. So those of you who want to know a little bit more about my age and where I come from. So back when I was growing up, emo music, screamo music, hardcore, all that kind of stuff was kind of getting big. So I can definitely relate to the primary demographic of Billie Eilish, which is angsty teens. I, too, was an angsty teen. Those of you who are in my age range around your 30s, maybe even 40s, I was into bands like The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Under Oath, and I used to go to the Warp Tour all the time and just like, yeah, somebody gets me sick. Around this time was also when I first started developing symptoms of mental illness, right? Depression, anxiety. I had, you know, very, very harmful thoughts. And that's one of the reasons why I want to talk about this subject. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. So what I want you to kind of focus on as I dive into this subject is what my channel is all about. We talk about the problem, the focus on the solution. So Billie Eilish and her music, personally, I'm not a huge fan of all of her music. I'm not saying her music is bad. It's just we all have different tastes and that's okay. But anyways, I have listened to a bunch of her music just trying to see what all the fuss is about and everything like that. And she has a tone with her music and it's pretty dark, pretty depressing and things like that. One of the issues, and this is just purely my opinion, especially, you know, as a father and somebody who had a lot of depression growing up, just my opinion is that we need to start looking at, you know, the music, you know, the artists behind it and kind of the message that's being put out there. What's always fascinated me about music as a whole is it helps you feel less alone. Okay. I'm thinking about doing some videos on Lincoln Park, because a lot of Lincoln Park songs have, you know, very depressing messages, right? But Billie Eilish, you know, she has this kind of dark depressing like kind of tone with her music and her lyrics and everything like that. And there's this connection you get and you don't feel so alone and you're like, oh my god, like somebody, I think, I think that's where it comes from when you're like somebody can finally put into words the feelings that I'm feeling, the emotions that I'm feeling, the experiences that I've been through. And I think that helps develop a parasocial relationship. Maybe that's even part of the reason why the audience gets so connected with YouTubers. You feel that connection. Like we, as humans, we have this natural desire for connection, right? Like we need it. Like it is something that helps us survive. We have to feel connected. And sometimes even in our own families, people don't understand. Like I mentioned last week, I spoke at a high school and you know, this is an issue that many teenagers deal with. They're going through their own problems and typically the adults in their lives, they don't understand, right? So there's no connection there. Well, who can you connect to? Artists like Billie Eilish. Now, one of the issues is that these songs, they focus on the problem, but there's no solution to it, right? So that's one of the million reasons why I say we talk about the problem of focus on the solution. Because like when you listen to a track, when you listen to a depressing track from Billie Eilish, there's no solution. It's just, it's all problem, right? This is the problem. This is the problem laid out for you. And now we feel connected. And then it's like, see you later. But it's like, what do you do after that? And one of the issues that I find is like, especially like just drawing from my own personal experience, growing up and listening to really dark, depressing music. And if any of you, like we're emo kids, or you can relate to the music that I'm talking about, let me know because I'm thinking about doing some videos on that. But it put me in a very dark headspace. And it really reinforced the negative thoughts that I constantly had, right? Like looking back on it, like that's an issue. You know what I mean? Like reinforcing those negative thoughts, making me think that those negative thoughts were okay, even though my life sucked because of it. Now this isn't the artist's fault. It's not the song's fault. It's nobody's fault in that aspect of it. But this is one of the reasons why I'm trying to increase the conversation about mental health. But for all the teens listening to this, you know, today, it's something that worries me, especially with mental health issues being on such a rise and a lack of resources, especially when it comes to, you know, high schools and things like that. Let me put it in perspective for you. When I was speaking at the high school last week, I asked the teacher, I was like, Hey, do they have like a school like therapist or a psychologist or whatever? And they do have a psychologist that comes in like once every couple months or so, right? We have a school with a thousand kids. Like that's not enough. You know what I mean? So when you think about how kids are being raised and what they're listening to and culture and things like that, like where's the solution aspect of it? Like do me a favor. Let me know down in the comments below. Did you ever feel growing up? Did you ever feel comfortable talking to your parents about your mental health issues? In my experience, it was often minimized or we didn't talk about it. Like if I was going through something, it's just like get over it. Right. So let me know if that's something that you can relate to as well. Like as a kid, I was being raised by, you know, the music I was listening to as well as the TV, the TV shows I was listening to. So when I look at this and I look at artists like Billie Eilish, what's the solution? What's the solution? In my opinion, what I think, like in an ideal world, what I think would happen is because it's very therapeutic. I want to touch on this real quick. It's very therapeutic for artists to write songs and make music. That is a very therapeutic experience. But it's very kind of one way. Right. Like you are a very fortunate artist if the music you're writing and putting out there is helping you out. Right. And then you think of, you know, a huge artist like Billie Eilish, if she needed therapy or treatment or whatever it is, she could afford it. You know what I mean? But it's like, what about the millions upon millions upon millions of people who are listening? This is why when I, when I kind of look at what's out there on YouTube, YouTube can be therapeutic for some people like making videos, but again, it's very one directional. Right. It's only coming one way. So I'm thinking about like just kind of this massive, you know, audience. So creative outlets are great. Like if you're somebody who likes to be creative, whether it's writing music, playing music, drawing, dancing, singing, whatever that, like whatever you do, do your thing, boo. All right. Very cool. But when you have a platform in the audience, it's like, okay, where's the balance coming? So going back, like in my ideal world, what would happen? What would happen? I would, I would hope that artists who are putting out that type of music that's, you know, depressing that people can connect to the balance comes in with, you know, promoting, taking care of your mental health. Right. And whether that's, you know, an artist like Billie Eilish, and I don't know if she has, like starting a foundation or starting like programs or just like tweeting things out or going on her Snapchat or on Instagram and like linking up with like mental health services and promoting those things. Because a lot of people, like I mentioned before, are listening to songs because they can connect to the music. So it's like, okay, now what can I do to help? What can I do to help the people who are listening to this and can relate to what I'm going through? Right. That's just something that's a message I've been trying to get off, get out there for, for so long. It's like when we have this platform, we should be using it to promote, you know, good mental health practices, whatever that may be. And maybe that's just something simple as yo, if you're struggling with these things, talk to your family, talk to your friends, talk to your teacher, talk to your counselor, talk to whoever it is. Especially teenagers because it's a very difficult time, you know, and there's so many stresses involved. So there needs to be some way in which artists, and this is again, my opinion, promote these types of services to help the people listening to their, their music. So again, I want to end this video by saying I don't, like just from what I know about Billie Eilish, which isn't a ton. I just know her music and some other, you know, things that she's put out on social media and some of her interviews. But I'm not saying that there's anything wrong just from my knowledge with Billie Eilish. I don't think her fans are awful people or anything like that. But I truly believe that most of us watching this, my primary demographic is like 18 to 34. Most of us, if we would have been getting help when we were teenagers, we wouldn't be dealing with the issues that we're dealing with today. So part of my goal with my YouTube channel, especially knowing that so many young people are on this platform is to help provide resources and pull things that they're interested in to try to teach them about mental health, mental health awareness, resources and getting help and everything like that. So if you happen to be a teen watching this and you're struggling with somebody, get a support group, talk to your parents, if possible, talk to a counselor, if possible, if not find a teacher who, who you like and who you trust, open up to them about what's going on. You need somebody to talk to, don't just bottle it in. I always say be careful about like kind of like online things because some of them are very bad and I might do some videos about that in the future. But anyways, don't lose hope. A lot of us were very depressed, very anxious as teenagers. If you want to prove my point, leave comments down below and let people know that it does get better. All right. It does get better. But anyways, I was thinking about maybe breaking down some Billie Eilish lyrics and things like that to kind of dive deeper into what I'm talking about. If that's something that you're interested in, let me know down in the comments. All right. Anyways, that's all I got for this video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell and a huge, huge thank you to everybody supporting the channel over on Patreon. You are all amazing. And if you would like to become a patron and get involved in our monthly Q&A and some other exclusive perks and benefits, you can click or tap right there. All right. Thanks again so, so much for watching. I'll see you next time.