ABUSE_MAGAZINE_ID_ Illinois issue | Page 26

Teen teen depression/suicide Depression and Suicide Hopelessness, humiliation, emptiness, loss and confusion. These are all words that so many of us have felt at one time or another. Stemming from school, home, from friends, lost relationships, physical illness or disability, from being bullied, or maybe it’s about hating ourselves for whatever we feel we lack, or maybe we can’t even put our finger on where it is coming from. But the feelings are there, nonetheless. Sometimes these feelings are just always there. A dull constant ache. Sometimes these feelings hit and hit hard. You can feel it in your stomach, there’s tightness in your chest, heaviness in your legs. There may be headaches, or shortness of breath. The effects are nearly endless. Sometimes you have a couple of good days, then, in an instant, the feelings are all back again. Sometimes it’s the painful thoughts that hurt the most. Sometimes it’s feeling nothing at all – numb. Sometimes it is the desolate emptiness. Perhaps the most painful is that it seems like we are the only one who feels this way. That the entire rest of the world is going about their lives with little care in the world, but we are here, dealing with this relentless barrage of feelings. At its worst, thoughts of suicide enter our minds and suicide becomes a viable option. After all, “at least in death, I will no longer feel this pain.” But, while I am in no way underestimating the pain you are feeling, there is another side to this. Before we endure even one more day of pain and most certainly before we attempt to end our lives, we should consider