I just want to be happy

You are at an age where hormones, emotions and even your brain are undergoing strong changes. It is natural to occasionally feel confused or depressed.

The best thing you can do is to talk to a counselor or therapist. Barring that, find someone you can communicate your emotions and thoughts with, sort of like a sounding board. Keeping your thoughts to yourself doesn’t help. If you can’t find someone around you then consider Fun Mailing someone on Fun Advice whose advice you like. It’s relatively private and gives you a good sounding board.

Check out the link below for information on teen depression.

  Information on teen depression:

http ://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_teen_teenagers.htm

(Links aren’t working properly in Answers, so simply copy the link and paste it in your browser’s address box. Delete the space after “http” and the link will work.)

   If you are having problems or are depressed, below are a couple of sites that may help you:

Worldwide:

Check out the Befrienders link below. They are not only a suicide hotline but also offer help to people who are stressed or are in a state of depression.

http ://www.befrienders.org/support/helplines.asp

(Links aren’t working properly in Answers, so simply copy the link and paste it in your browser’s address box. Delete the space after “http” and the link will work.)

In the U.S.A., you also have access to:

Boys Town National Hotline

Call With Any Problem, Any Time

1-800-448-3000

http://www.boystown.org/hotline/index.asp

Fun Mail a “sounding board”!

I would assume that you can’t talk about what you are going through with anyone because it is too personal and you don’t want others to know about it in relation to you.

The solution, then, might be to pick someone on Fun Advice whose advice you like and Fun Mail them. (You can check out the quality of someone’s advice by clicking on their name; going down to their recent advice, click on view all, then click on the questions that might interest you and view their answers.) Explain to them that you are having problems and want to have someone to use as a “sounding board” and would like to know if they would be willing to be your sounding board. Fun Mail is basically private, so you shouldn’t have any concerns about your privacy.

Although there are many users on Fun Advice who would be qualified, I’d suggest the person be an Advisor, for two reasons: First, most Advisors have several hundred or even thousands of Answers under their belt which can really give you a perspective about them; and second, you can simply click on the Advisors link at the top of the page and view a list of the most recently active Advisors with information about them AND a total of their Answers. (Don’t contact them by that “Ask me a question” link. That’s public. Instead, click on their name which will take you to their Profile page, then click on the “Send me Fun Mail” link on the left side of the page.)

You also have the ability to Fun Mail anyone (Advisor or otherwise) by clicking on the “Send me Fun Mail” link near the top of the Answer under the person’s name.

        Simply a Rose to brighten your day,         And maybe lessen the cares in your way;         And also, too, to help you to know,         That in knowing you, many others grow!