by Sarah aka G

Yo, what’s crack-a-lackin’, ladies (and several gents)? I hope you’ve got your reading eyes on, because what you’re about to read here could help in the not-so-distant-future. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow (Humphrey!), maybe not even at all, I don’t know, I’m not psychic. I can be for twenty dollars though. Here, first taste is free: Tomorrow is always another day. Profound, I know, but seriously, it never hurts to be informed, because you just never know. Especially since the affects of teen depression are on the rise.I know, people never really plan on pulling that chocolate out of the box (Forrest!), but stuff happens. I remember in grade nine, we had at least five “cutters,” and four drug overdoses. It only got worse; not to mention that in the past five years, several teenagers in my city took their own lives, and those are just the ones that made the paper. One of my friends in particular (yes, I actually mean FRIEND) is always struggling with depression. It’s all around us, people and it appears to be getting worse and worse.

So this friend of mine; she was actually fairly open with bits and pieces of her problems. She wasn’t open to all of us, but the few she felt she could open up to, even if it was just a little. We’re not experts, or anything and we really didn’t know what to do, or sometimes what to say, but we were there and I like to think that helped a bit. She couldn’t turn to her parents. Well, maybe she really could have, but she didn’t think she could, because they really are at opposite ends of the spectrum, so we were the for support. Luckily,this one day her mentor, who always happens to be a teacher, noticed that something was wrong and they sat for an entire period and talked things out. To this day, I still don’t know exactly what was said, but the change was astounding. We had our friend back and the situation didn’t get as bad as it could have. She still has her bad days, or weeks, but she just thinks back to what this teacher told her and it helps her cope. That was what she needed.

So we know how my buddy found help, but “different folks, different strokes,” right? Some people feel comfortable going to their parents and some people have friends who will go to someone for them and get help. Some people, like my friend have a mentor who can help them out. I asked around though and a lot of people said that they just don’t feel comfortable opening up to people they know for numerous reasons and well, there is an alternative to this. Therapy for one, but the other option is just a phone call away (and free). I’m talking about a crisis hotline. They have one for just about anything, filled with volunteers who have all sorts of experience with the exact things the people calling are dealing with. They will talk to you until the cows come home, if that’s your thing, or they will point you in the direction for help. Here, let me link you all: http://www.allaboutcounseling.com/crisis_hotlines.htm and http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/Crisis.html

We made it through, people! We made it through and now I shall bid you adieu and remember that as corny as it may sound, someone is ALWAYS there to help. I’ve seen more of the good than the bad in my short life and please don’t become more of the bad. There is hope out there.

Peace out, G!

About “G”

Waaaazzzuuup?! Y’all already know my name(s) so I’ll just skip that part and move on. I’m the token Canadian girl, but not-so-token these days, because there is actually several Canadians around! Isn’t it amazing? It’s definitely amazing. Hmm… I’m also pretty accident prone and by ‘pretty accident prone’, I mean dangerously accident prone. It’s quite bad, but apparently entertaining at the same time. I’m a complete and utter history nerd, a big Canucks fan, a roller coaster junkie and I have a slight addiction to Snuggle fabric softener and I’m rambling; so I shall bid you all adieu.