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)
Everyone goes through things in life; some may be more extreme than others but it happens. Your friend is very grateful to have someone like you by her side. Sometimes you never know ow strong you are until being strong is your only option. I could only imagine how scared you were to see her try to do such thing. Suicide is a very serious deal and should not be swept under the rug. Like you said, her thoughts may be gone now but you never know what will happen in the future. My advice to you is to continue being that loving and supportive friend and stay by her side through whatever. She will forever appreciate those who were there for her during her tough times.
ReplyDeleteI think that you made the right decision. Don't beat yourself up for doing a good deed. I know that your friend appreciate you for that. We all need that one good friend.
ReplyDeletethat was the right decision i too have been in that situation but i was the one about to kill themselves...depression is no joke and there are some that arent as strong as others so they feel as if that is the only way out no matter what people say..but sometimes what we need is support and thats good how supportive you are and you should never regret saving someones life.
ReplyDeleteYou handle the situation correctly. Honestly I don't know what I would have done in that situation. I would probably be shocked and not know what to do. That was good you stayed and comforted your friend and got her some help. She will thank you later for it. Some situations you do need outside help because you can't handle it yourself. Hope she gets better
ReplyDeleteI also had a friend who was down and out with life and just wanted to call it quits, she couldn't even get support from her family. Her family actually was making it worse and as a friend I was there to support her. The best way to help is to tell them how much they are loved and will be missed. All they need is support and without it, I'm not sure where my closest friend would be.
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