Question: I have to ask you for some advice…

Question:
Hello, I just want to start off saying that Im a really big fan and I love your books. I know you may get tired of this but I have to ask you for some advice. Im 13 and I am not doing well in school and i am having family issues. I feel so overwelmed. I cant talk to anyone because they laugh at me and make a joke about it! I cant take the stress of school and I cant take a relitive being in the hospital and alot of other things! I never get sleep. Im soo depressed. I dont know what to do! I feel like my parents are ashamed of me, like they want nothing to do with me. I have thoughts about suicide sometimes or I wish I were dead and I really think i would be better off dead. Please help me! I cant take it anymore i just cant! Please.

PHYLLIS Replied:
If you think you are causing your parents grief right now, this is nothing compared to how they would feel if you took your life. I truly wish I could say something that would make all your stress go away, but all I really have are questions: WHY aren’t you sleeping? WHY should your parents be ashamed of you? WHY don’t people take you seriously? I don’t know if you are actually a pretty good student, under a lot of pressure from your parents to do better, or if the pressure is coming from you, thinking you can’t possibly measure up. Worry about a sick relative is definitely stressful, but I’m wondering if it’s affecting you even more than other members of your family, and why that would be? The only thing that is clear to me is that you need to unload some of this worry and stress on someone who will really listen and help you understand the situation better. If you were the parent in this situation wh! ere you live now, and your child came to you with what you have told me, whom would you recommend she/he talk to? Your school counselor? The principal? A favorite teacher? A favorite aunt? A kind neighbor? A minister or rabbi or priest? Who is there in your immediate neighborhood whom you could confide in? Please do yourself a favor, and talk to someone this next week.