Teen anxiety

• Do you feel like you are constantly in a dark place? 
• Do you feel like you are a prisoner in your own thoughts?
• Do you feel like you are worthless & a burden to others?
• Do you feel like you want the pain to stop?
• Do you hurt yourself?
• 
  

If you have answered yes to any of these Ask for help: 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your friends, family, teachers or call us.

Please just reach out.

Remember that these feelings can be overcome!

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. 

Friend/Family arguments, relationships, exams, sexual identity, and the loss of important people can seem impossible to deal with. 

But with support from others - you can.

Just talking about your problems will make a huge difference, bottling them up will enhance them and make them a million times worse in your head.

It can be daunting wondering how you are going to tell someone how you feel.

You think they will judge you or say you are being silly.  

You feel that no-one will understand.

This is not true.

Below is some advice on how to approach your loved ones, they will be far more understanding than you think,

Telling someone that you’re feeling suicidal is like talking about anything else serious, but it’s important that you prepare and time it correctly:

• Make sure you have a quiet, private space and time to talk
• Plan what you want to say ahead of time
• Try to be calm, if you can
• Bring a friend or sibling in for support

If you don’t think you can start the conversation face to face, write it down.  

Sometimes this is the easiest way as your putting your thoughts to paper is more truthful, as you don’t forget what you want to say or are too embarrassed to.

When you’ve written it down make sure you hand it to your mum, dad, friend, teacher or chosen person, when they are not busy or pre-occupied.

Ask them to please read it & sit there while they do.

You will find that you will instantly feel better & it will feel like a weight has been lifted.  

You have made the first & most difficult step in your recovery & it will get easier with every step you take.

Very few young people who commit suicide presents obvious signs, this is due to the natural behavior of teenagers making it difficult to spot ~ with silent suffering, their anxiety & feelings of hopelessness just build up & something inside them ‘snaps’ ~ at that moment it feels like death is their only escape.

These suicides can be prevented simply by knowing some of the warning signs, it may help you determine if a loved one is at risk for suicide, especially if the behavior is new, has increased, or seems related to a painful event, loss, or change.

• Talking about death, wanting to die or to kill themselves
• Looking for ways to kill themselves, like searching online.
• Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live
• Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
• Talking about being a burden to others & forever messing things up
• Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs
• Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Withdrawing or isolating themselves
• Showing rage 
• Extreme mood swings
• Lack of appetite & weight loss
• Listening to sad music that is out of character
• Doodling & drawing ‘deep’ pictures
• Researching or writing ‘deep’ poems/sayings
• Fake smiles & ‘dead’ eyes

If you or someone you know exhibits any of these signs, seek help immediately, it literally could save their life.

This is an ever-increasing problem in society.

It affects all ages & can ruin lives. 

There are various types of bullying ~ Verbal / Social / Physical / Cyber.

Verbal bullying  

Saying or writing mean/nasty things.

Verbal bullying includes:

• Teasing, Name-calling, Inappropriate sexual comments, Taunting, threatening to cause harm

Social bullying

• Involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships.  

Social bullying includes: 

• Leaving someone out on purpose, telling others not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors about someone, Embarrassing someone in public

Physical bullying 

Involves physically hurting someone.

Physical bullying includes: 

• Hitting/kicking/punching, Spitting, Tripping/pushing, taking, or breaking someone’s things & Making mean or rude hand gestures.

Are you being bullied?

If you can relate to any of the above statements, the likelihood is that you are being bullied, or know someone that is – please tell someone.

If you don’t feel like you can tell your parents, then tell a teacher, a friend or someone else you trust.

They are there to help.

Due to the increased use of technology in this day & age, cyber bullying has become a huge & ever increasing problem.

"Cyberbullying" is when a child or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed, or otherwise targeted by another using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies, or mobile phones.

Most this cyber bullying happens within social media sites – direct messaging or on group chats.  The latter is a bigger problem as it entices others to become involved and makes the bullying more prevalent and wider spread.  

This type of bullying is so dangerous as it can happen 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.  The victim has no respite from the bullying & can be targeted at any time.  

Why do people cyber bully?

When it comes to cyberbullying ~ anger, revenge, or frustration often motivates them.

Sometimes they do it for entertainment or because they are bored and have too much time on their hands.

Many do it for laughs or to get a reaction.

Some do it by accident, and either send a message to the wrong recipient or didn't think before they did something.

The Power-hungry do it to torment others and for their ego.

Revenge posts ~ someone may start out defending themselves from traditional bullying only to find that they enjoy being the tough guy or girl.

Mean girls/boys do it to re-enforce their social standing as the alpha male or female.

Some think they are righting a wrong because they are sticking up for someone else.

Regardless of the reason ~ cyber bullying is wrong & it destroys many lives.

Megan suffered at the hands of cyber bullies & they won.

If you’re being cyberbullied, here’s what you can do: 

• Tell your parents or someone else you trust - someone at your school – a teacher, counselor, or a friend.
• They can help you. You don’t have to do this alone!
• You need to Save everything – emails, messages, photos, posts, texts, or anything else that shows the bullying. Don’t delete anything until you have a copy. Print them out or save them on your laptop, phone, or tablet, this is extremely important
• Report comments, fake profiles, or inappropriate photos. Social media sites have ways of reporting harassing content. Don’t be afraid to report these, that way the posts will be taken down quickly.

If you see that someone is being cyber bullied.

Don’t join in.

Don’t “LIKE” or share posts that are bullying someone.

Although you may feel pressure to join in as it’s what everyone else is doing, don’t be tempted.

Report it.

Even if content isn’t targeting you, you can still report it to the social media site, or any adult that you trust.

If you feel comfortable and its safe for you to do so, then stand up and speak out telling people that its wrong.

Be the person in the group chat that speaks out against the bullying.

Reach out to the person being bullied.

Send them a private message letting them know that you don’t agree with what’s happening, that they don’t deserve to be treated like that, and that they’re not alone.

Offer your support either as a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on.

Encourage them to report the bullying and tell them you’ll support them when they do.

Few people will admit that they are bullies, some don’t even realise that their actions constitute bullying.

If you say or do something intentionally that hurts someone else’s feelings, then you are participating in bullying.  

There are many reasons you may be acting this way.  

Perhaps you are experiencing difficulties at home or in another environment that makes you emotionally fragile, or you could be witnessing violence at home or somewhere else.  

Due to the situation, you are in, you may feel naturally hostile & aggressive.

You may think that the way you are treated by other people in those environments is the way you in turn should treat others.

You may feel like this behaviour is normal and acceptable ~ but it’s not.  

You should not feel like this, there is help there for you too.

Please reach out and speak to someone ~ it could be a friend, a teacher, or your parents.

You can change, you just need to understand why you act the way you do & then you can start to make things better for yourself and in turn others.