ROdown Blog
Competing for "most messed up"
I’ve noticed that there seems to be this unspoken competition to see who is the most “messed up” at my school. I don’t know if it’s a plea for help or hunger for attention but everyone thinks they’re the winner. One of my friends thinks she has the worst life because her parents are divorced, her father has cancer and she is anorexic. Another believes they’ve got it bad because of all the different anti-depressants he has to take. But the girl, whose dad committed suicide when she was ten, feels her life is the hardest struggle of them all.
Why do we do this? Why do we compete over our problems? Why can’t we just use all our energy from complaining and instead be there for each other? The amount of times people used to ask me “why” when I told them I was depressed was overwhelming. I wish I had an easy answer for why things in my life turned out the way they did. Like I lost a family member or was ill for most of my childhood. But no, my problems are less dramatic. This makes it hard for a lot of people who haven’t suffered from mental illness to understand.
I think it’s important to know that you don’t have to have a hard-core reason for why you’re depressed, or anxious or stressed. It can be something as simple as just being worried about an exam, uncomfortable with your appearance or just upset for no reason you’re aware of. The question isn’t “WHY are you the way you are?”… The question is “HOW can you change?”
Check out some of the ReachOut.com fact sheets and stories for things you can do.
Help a friend:
http://au.reachout.com/find/getting-help/help-a-friend
Help yourself:
http://au.reachout.com/find/getting-help/help-yourself
This article was written by Ashleigh, ReachOut.com Intern
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1 Comment
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Lillyblue123
9 months ago
Reply ReportI just read this and i couldn't agree more. That was really inspiring and i even cried. It wasn't just sad because of everything that happened in your life and your friends but because your absolutely right, we ask 'why' too many times and its never anything different. I like your view on this and I hope i start asking 'How i can change' instead of 'why'. Your blog has definitely helped me answer some of my own questions, Thankyou :)