Recently my best friend tried to kill herself. I think the scariest part about it is that I was
there with her when she tried it. I
remember the rest of the night I held her tight to me and I kept murmuring over
and over how much I loved her. She expressed to me how she had been depressed
for quite some time and as I thought back over the past weeks all the warning
signs were there. The mood swings, the
depression, the loss of interest, the isolation. Over and over I kept blaming myself for
letting it get this bad. How did I not know and I was the closest one to her? Behind
closed doors I couldn’t stop crying – I didn’t know what to do. I ended up calling my mom and telling her
what happened. She gave me advice I’ll never forget. She said that at that moment it was not about
me. This was a cry for help and I needed
to be strong for her, but most importantly I could not keep this to
myself. When I got off the phone with
her I made sure my friend was with friends I trusted and then I went to visit counseling
services. The person I spoke with was
very friendly and told me I did the right thing by telling someone. I was certain she would hate me for giving
them her name, however she wasn’t. I realized that she was not strong enough to
go get help on her own and I like to think this is why I was placed in her
life. Suicidal thoughts may be out of
her head for now, but we are far from over this crisis. I wrote this to say that you never know how
important you are in someone’s life and to never let your fears get in the way
of getting someone help. Below is the
suicide prevention hotline and a website to help you recognize warning signs.
1-800-273-TALK (8255)