Why People Wear Masks - Term Paper Example

Masks A mask can be identified as an object that is used to create a façade of something that is not real. It can also be defined as an object that hides the true and obvious nature of any individual that identifies themselves with it. In everyday living, people identify themselves with masks. This is for some reasons best known to them. Some wear them to protect themselves from hurt. Some do it to create an illusion of something in them that does not exist or is not real. Without masks, it is believed that life’s experiences would be very dull and boring. It is there inevitable that there would be the creation of facades by people in society to best suit the situations they are in. This paper will get to review some of the reasons why people wear masks. Also, if it is something they want to do or want to stop doing. There are different individuals in the world. Some have been identified as the best while others not so much. There is the illusion that having friends is better than being alone. This may not be entirely true. When people find people to be around, they claim an undying friendship for each other. Very few people can identify themselves as having true or real friends. This is true wherever research may be carried out about this topic. When faced with problems, it is very easy to identify the real friends from the fake friends. Helping someone that may be headed in the wrong direction could make them feel wanted and cared for (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 25). Having a friend with problems also comes with the territory. A friend may have problems depending on the way they are used to living. Drugs could be a very big problem if not taken care of at the earliest stage. The question many people may ask them is why they do it. The may not have a clear, concise answer for this. They might claim the feeling that comes with such way of living is comforting. What is the use of ‘good feelings’ whenever the use these drugs while bring health complications to one’s life? It is not worth the risk. One should rather be happy and live longer (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 32). These are the types of masks that are present in society today. This mask is acquired at a very tender age. Usually people grow up thinking that life will be all that they thought of. This, they later come to find out, is not the case. When things do not go their way, they resort to such habits. There are many people in life that do not get to see some of the best things that life has to offer. This is because they trusted drugs to escape reality due to some problems in life (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 40). This façade has had so many people doing all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. The problem with this is that they do not realize that they are digging their own graves with such life changing decisions. They go in them head first with no way out for them. Pressure put on individuals by society sometimes leads to the taking of drugs. There is the problem of pleasing everybody, especially parents and relatives. No two individuals will be alike in both thinking and design. The problem with this is that society does not seem to realize this fact. Drugs have taken a part in the lives of many people. It has led to the death of many young people due to drug related crimes and sometimes overdoses (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 45). One man’s meat is another’s poison. When teens around the world think it is cool to see their celebrities engage in drugs, it may not necessarily mean that it is okay for them to do it. Over a period of time, the mask develops slowly and in no time, an individual is hooked on hard drugs. This mask fits these individuals well at first. They get to enjoy and feel life’s joys as they had earlier dreamt it would be. However, with time, the drugs get into their systems and cause problems for them. Calls for them to change for the better do not seem to go down well with them. They seem to think that the people surrounding them are not out for their interests. It is after this realization that they start resenting the people around them. It is already too late for them to help themselves out of this predicament since they know no other way of living, apart from the one they are used to (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 50). The persistent calls and pressure to stop seem to push them away further. To shed off such a habit or identity can be a hard task. This is especially if the person involved is from a social background that seems to neglect them. People who grew up in homes that parents were ever working and did not give them enough attention have this problem. They, therefore, turn to the only consolation, drugs, from people who pretend to be their friends due to their deep pockets (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 52). The decisions they have to make put them between a rock and a hard place. They have to choose which path to take. One could either lose the drugs and find longevity in life or, continue using the drugs and forget about everything and everyone else. It is often a hard choice to make for them. Drugs having control over their lives, means that their freedoms have been put on the back-burner. Their relationships too have had to bear the brunt for such masks. They lose almost everyone to drugs. This takes them further over the edge (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 55). These masks cause people the most harm. They eat them up and sometimes, the drug addicts cause themselves harm to get more attention. People have been known to commit suicide due to these drugs. There are also health complications which come with such tendencies. They end up suffering and cause those around them to suffer eventually. In conclusion, for such masks in society to be destroyed once and for all, it is better for people to concentrate on themselves rather than people around them. They need to get their priorities straight and focus on helping themselves (Nutt, King, Saulsbury & Blakemore, p. 60). This way, they can get to a better place without the use of drugs to aid in the process. The pressure put on young people to perform should be reduced to enable people be what they want to be. They are often pushed to be what they are not. This then results in a huge generation of depressed teenagers. With such a mind-set, it is likely any individual will not feel the need to wear such a mask for whatever reason. The world will also stop losing the youth to drugs as the recent times have shown. Works cited Nutt, D., King, L. A., Saulsbury, W., and Blakemore, C. Development of a Rational Scale to Assess the Harm of Drugs of Potential Misuse. New York: Free Press, 2007. Print. Read More