1. Twenty One Pilots

Over the year of 2016, Twenty One Pilots have gotten extremely popular. Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph (the members of the duo) have had incredible hits recently like "Heathens" and "Stressed Out." But in some lesser known records, there's a deeper meaning to the songs they write. A junior at Timber Creek High School (and my good friend), Anthony Guinta, has been a huge Twenty One Pilot for years now. "Twenty One Pilots have helped me immensely in the time I have been listening to Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun." said Anthony, "When my mother was diagnosed with cancer for the second time and we were told she wasn't going to make it, I was lost. I had heard of these two boys before and had only listened to their music a few times, but wasn't a huge fan during this time. I heard 'Stressed Out' and that's where it all started. I began listening to their older songs such as 'Glowing Eyes' and 'Ruby.' I couldn't get enough. When my mother did eventually pass away, their music is what soothed me when I was in a fit of rage or in a dark place. They were there when no one else could help me. If I could meet Josh and Tyler, I would never stop thanking them."

2. Demi Lovato

Ever since the Disney Channel movie Camp Rock came out, I had always been a huge fan of Demi Lovato. It wasn't until middle school that I realized she was definitely someone I looked up to and that heavily influenced me as a person. When her documentary Stay Strong was released in 2012, I didn't understand the true meaning behind what she was feeling because it was way before I went through my difficult time. It wasn't until I watched it again my junior year of high school where I realized what she was going through. Demi is such a strong person, has so many strong things to say, and continues to inspire me every day. One of my favorite things that she has said is this: "You can live with a mental illness. It may take time, but it's worth it. You deserve to live a happy and healthy life." She always reminds me to stay strong (as it's tattooed on her wrists--'stay' on the left and 'strong' on the right) and I will always listen to her. Thank you, Demi.

3. Halsey

"Closer" singer, Halsey, has reached a huge level of popularity over the past few months. People love her for so many different reasons--whether it's her strong passion for feminism, how she speaks out about her battle with bipolar disorder, or purely just her talent. In a Billboard interview, she talks about the troubles of her mental illness. "I had tried to kill myself." Halsey said, "I was an adolescent. Because I was 17, I was still in a children's ward. Which was terrifying. I was in there with nine-year-olds who had tried to kill themselves." One of my close friends, Brielle Saunderson, has been listening to Halsey for a while and she opened up on how her music helps her. "When I'm having bad nights, I'll put her Badlands albums on and it'll help me with whatever I'm going through." Brielle told me. She also revealed how important music became to her. "The day I got out of the hospital I was in the car listening to Imagine Dragons. It was a moment for me. I don't think I realized how important music was to me before that."

4. Cara Delevingne

After deciding to switch her career from modeling to acting, Cara Delevingne has shown us that it's the most important thing to put yourself first. When she made this switch, she opened up about the fashion world and how it affected her in both a physical and mental way. This wasn't the first time she felt depressed and suicidal, though. She had experienced it for the first time at just 15 years old. In an interview, she talks about the first time she ever had suicidal thoughts, "I was packing my bags, and suddenly I just wanted to end it. I had a way, and it was right there in front of me. And I was like, I need to decide if I love myself as much as I love the idea of death." It's so brave of Cara to speak out about what her thoughts and feelings were at this low point in her life. It can help so many people going through the exact same thing she did.

5. Selena Gomez

For some time now, Selena Gomez has been hidden from the spotlight and for good reason. After canceling the last shows of her Revival tour, she reportedly checked herself into rehab for anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Last weekend at the American Music Awards, the amazing singer accepted the award for Favorite Female Artist and delivered one of the most powerful speeches I have ever heard any singer give at an awards show. One of the things she said that stuck out to me the most was when she says, "If you are broken, you do not have to stay broken. And if that's anything, whether you respect me or not, that's one thing that you should know about me. It's that I care about people." I never really cared for Selena before she gave that speech, but now I have so much respect for the message she's trying to send to people all around the world. You can watch her amazing speech from the 2016 American Music Awards here.

6. Miley Cyrus

I think it's unfair how people look at Miley Cyrus just because of the first year she decided not to be with Disney Channel anymore. But now that she's grown out of that "I'm proving you all wrong stage," she has some very strong messages for young women. After being forced to have a certain image while acting in the show Hannah Montana, she developed some mental health issues. In an interview with Elle magazine she says, "It’s totally okay to feel sad. I went through a time where I was really depressed. Like, I locked myself in my room and my dad had to break my door down. It was a lot to do with, like, I had really bad skin, and I felt really bullied because of that. But I never was depressed because of the way someone else made me feel, I just was depressed." Miley reminds us that you should always be yourself and if you try to be anyone else, it's not a good outcome. It just hurts you in the end.

7. Jack Harries

Jack Harries is a British Youtube sensation and has been for a while. About a year ago, he posted a video titled "Let's Talk About Mental Illness" where he explains how stigmatized it is and how different people react to it. The line that stuck out to me the most in the video was this, "From what I've seen, more often than not, people dealing with a mental illness find it harder to deal with the stigma than they do the mental illness itself, and that is crazy because the stigma is created by us. Mental health disabilities are an illness, not a weakness. They are an issue, not an identity." You can watch Jack's Youtube video on mental illness here.