Are you feeling depressed? Tired of living? Can’t see the light at the end of that dark, seemingly endless tunnel of suffering? If so, you’re not alone—more and more people are sinking into what sometimes feels like a bottomless pit of despair and desolation, struggling to climb out. After spending enough time down there, many start questioning whether it’s worth going on living this way. I’ve been there many times. Maybe you’ve been there before too, and if so, a part of you knows the agony eventually ends. But when you’re in the midst of being hounded by the Black Dog of depression, it rarely feels that way.
When you’re down, some of your friends might say, “But lots of people care about you!” Yet you might strongly feel that no one truly cares, or worse, that they secretly despise you and laugh behind your back. Even if they do really care. Depression is like that—it places dark sunglasses over the eyes of your soul, and everything that was bright in your world becomes dark. Cheerful memories become sad ones. Eagerly anticipated plans become pointless ones. And everything seems to hurt.
In this state, others might tell you to “Cheer up!” or “Just snap out of it!” But you can’t just snap out of it. It’s not like you can just turn off all of these depressive thoughts and feelings like a switch, or else you would have duct-taped that switch in the off position a long time ago, wouldn’t you? However, what if there was a way to control these feelings, but you just couldn’t see it yet?
If you’re standing on the ledge of life and thinking of jumping off, I ask that you make a deal with yourself to wait at least 48 hours before doing anything drastic. After all, what’s another 48 hours? In that time, find a friend or confidante to talk to, someone who will listen and give you a shoulder to lean on in this time of need. Make sure they know that this is serious and that you really need their support right now. If you don’t feel comfortable telling someone you know, or don’t feel you have anyone to support you right now, please call a crisis hotline and talk to someone anonymously.
And when you feel ready to finally learn how to drop-kick the demon of depression in the *** so that it never haunts you again, go learn about sudism.
Don’t kill yourself, fix yourself.