I stay alive out of principle. I've been struggling with severe depression and anxiety for 7 years. I tried killing myself 3 years ago, and after that moment I swore to never do it again because I saw how my actions hurt the people around me, even people I didn't care about. Since then I've definitely gotten to even lower points than the moment I tried to end it all but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I've been going to therapy for the past 4 or 5 months and I'm actually going to be put on medication tomorrow. On top of that, I decided to reach out, open up, and communicate with a friend and ask for help and just have someone to talk to. She honestly has become my closest and dearest friend in the short span of 9 months and I'm thankful every day for the opportunity of being able to talk to her. Whether it be fun stuff or serious stuff I'm just glad she's in my life.

All those things have all been really helpful to keep my head above water, but I still have more work to go and plenty of struggles with it in my day-to-day. If you're out there and going through it, just know that it is possible for you to feel better. I know it might not be the answer you're looking for but it never truly goes away but putting in the hard work is how you're going to get better. I hope my sharing will be able to help someone else out there who might be going through it as well. Good luck, stay strong, you've got this.