Through the Darkness

4, 250-The number of teenagers who commit suicide each year in the U.S.

Hardly anyone wants to talk about suicide
It's a topic that most people would like to avoid
Would like to ignore
We think that if we don't talk about
Depression
Anxiety
Suicide
That will all just...

Go away.

But it won't!
4,250 teens commit suicide every year
That's not counting the teens who just
Think about it
Or who try-
And Fail

So much pressure is put upon teens to 
"Do Well"
We must have perfect grades, we can't be angry, 
We can't feel the need to express ourselves
Without being judged, without being punished
Society tells us that we must
Look a certain way and 
Act a certain way
Even though that's just not possible 
Because we are all human.
And we are all unique, in our own way.

Kids with depression think they're
Alone 
But what they don't know
Is the boy sitting next to them in science contemplated 
Suicide last night
What they don't know is that their cashier at the local
McDonald's was hospitalized for overdosing on painkillers.

The average teenager will have a 
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat 
On a daily basis we see people telling us
What we should look like
What we should wear, 
And who we should be, 
Even if it contradicts our own feelings

So many teenagers feel that they're not worth it
So they try to find worth in someone else
Young kids are having their first kiss
Because love is something that we should experiment with, 
So maybe we can find someone who loves us as much as 
We should love ourselves.

I go on my own Facebook and I see girls and boys alike 
Calling themselves ugly
Saying they're stupid, 
Telling the world that they wish it would all end

And yet, we ignore it, 
We don't believe they want to do it 
Because they post about it so much
But maybe they're just scared
Stuck in a limbo where they're 
Afraid to follow through
But even more terrified of telling someone
How they feel

Because no one will understand, right? 
No one cares about us. 
No one wants us around. 
We're ugly
We're stupid
And we don't matter

So why do we stick around? 
What makes someone decide to live rather than die? 

I am an onlooker
I have never had depression
I have never had anxiety
I have no idea what it's like
To feel on a daily basis that 
I don't matter
Because I know I matter

And I know you matter.
It hurts so much when my friends tell me 
They're depressed
And I can't do anything to help them
When they don't want to tell me
Because it's too much to explain 
And i can't explain to myself what they're going through
And they don't believe me when I say they matter
When I say they're important. 

And it makes me so sad 
Because I just want the world to be happy
No one deserves pain, or sadness
I dream of a peaceful world
Where people love themselves, 
And love others as well. 
Who knows? 
Maybe someday we'll have that world. 

When I go to school, I see people
That would get into fights for their friends
I see kids who would do whatever it takes to keep their friends alive
I see kids who don't want to break people's hearts
I see kids who have hopes and dreams, 
But I also see kids who have no idea what they're going to do 
After High School
When we're adults out in the world

I see kids
Who are struggling, but who 
Still 
Get out of bed every day, and try their best
To make it through school 

Life is like a tunnel
Everyone starts at someplace
Some start in the light
And some
Start in the dark, 
And when you're left alone in the dark 
You feel like you'll never get out
You feel like that darkness will stretch on forever

But what you don't know
What 4,250 kids a year don't know
Is that standing next to you 
In the darkness
Are people just like you
You can reach out to them.
They're right along beside you.

Suicide has become so stigmatized that
Some say you are weak
If you try to end your life
Some say you're selfish
But how can it be selfish when all you're thinking about 
Is how much people hate you
And how much they don't care?

How are you weak when you think
You're making life better for everyone else 
By ending your own? 

For the first time I'm taking a health class
And the textbook says 
You are not weak if you feel depressed
And for once 
The textbook is right

If you tell me you're going to kill yourself
I will tell somebody
And you can hate me all you want
But you deserve the change to live
The chance to make your dreams come true 
And no matter what people say
You are not weak for feeling depressed
And you are not selfish 
When you can find no other way out

But there is a way out
A way out without killing yourself
Without ending it all together

When you feel depressed and alone
Or believe that life cannot possibly
Go on
Just remember the tunnel
And remember, 
That even if you can't see what's ahead, 
There's somebody standing, 
Braving the darkness with you, 
Heading towards the light ahead.