Online Chat Rooms Can Help Depressed Teens

Still young and yet to fully develop resilience, teens are hardly prepared to cope with depression. Being overwhelmed by the emotion, suicide may seem like the only escape from misery to them. Thousands of young people in the US commit suicide each year, with the percentage suffering from depressing being much higher. Grave as the problem is, it is very much treatable. Kids suffering from depression or considering suicide can be saved through a strong support system. While parents, friends and therapists may be the ideal members of the support system, online depression and suicide chat rooms can make a huge difference as well. By coming across other people who are or have gone through the same issue, the teen may learn that things may not be so bad after all and that they may improve.

Evaporating the dark cloud

Becoming more conscious of themselves, their surroundings, their social standing and the expectations of them, teens grow vulnerable to depression. Once they succumb to it, hope and joy is immediately replaced with misery and gloom. Such teens feel that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. They expect things to continue going downhill and thus feel even worse.

Online depression chat rooms serve as an excellent platform for them to discover that they’re not alone. Talking to other people who are experiencing or had experienced similar feelings enables them to take comfort in the fact that they’re not alone. It helps them to realize that stresses, pressures, expectations, etc. are all a part of life.

Hearing the problems of others and how they managed to overcome them serve as inspiration for teens. They not only develop stronger self-belief, but also begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some of the people in the depression chat rooms may be going through even more challenging situations, thus making teens find their own problems very small in comparison. Instead of looking to be saved, they may end up becoming the saviors.

Giving life another chance

Feeling miserable beyond endurance, teens believe that suicide is the only way to make the pain go away. However, online suicide chat rooms may stop them from giving in to the temptation. The people there can help teens to understand that no matter how bad things seem, giving up may not be the best thing to do.

Teens also learn that they are not the only ones to have suffered so much pain. Others have gone through something similar and yet they are still fighting, or have already won the fight.

Being able to talk to someone they find relatable helps them vent their feelings, emotions and pain. Removing all this from the system and getting honest and genuine advice can convince them to give life another change.

Once again, online depression and suicide chat rooms are not a substitute to support system comprising of parents, friends and therapists. Professional help in particular becomes extremely important if the teen is letting their depression take over their life completely or are visibly suicidal. However, during the early stages of depression and being suicidal, an online support system does prove to be effective.

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