It takes adults years to pile up credits, many semesters of classes, and numerous training tasks to be fully prepared to become psychologists. Even so, they don't always know how to handle situations that students present them with. So, how can a student act as a psychiatrist?

Students are in no means capable to handle these cases. They lack the wisdom only time can give a person, plus the intensive training a psychology major has. So, why then, are they put into a situation like this?

Suicide and depression are extremely scary topics. Sure, people hear about it an can think, "Wow, that's awful!" How often, though, do they get a firsthand experience of it to know the true feelings of a helpless bystander? They do their best to help, but the victim doesn't listen, and the fact that their life could go down the drain at any single moment is heartwrenchingly painful to bear.

In the past year, a student was saved from suicide by a friend of hers. She had cut herself, trying to get the scissor all the waythrough her arm at some point. He made a last-ditch effort, and luckily it worked. But then other problems ensued, including skipping meals and living in a constant funk. No one can truly understand the feelings a person gets when they are doing their best to help someone, but they refuse to comply for whatever reason. Kids can't handle this kind of pressure, and adults NEED to be involved. They truly are the ones who can help.

Another student has recently fallen into depression's clutches. She calls herself fat and never thinks she's good enough. Her parents have high expectations for her, and all the activites she participates in plus the addition of schoolwork are stressing her out to the point that it's all she talks about. She writes to get everythig out but also immerses herself in ballet and band in hopes of forgetting her current position in life; essentially, her drug. However, in this case, a teacher was told, and he went to guidance with this. The team of adults talk with her regularly. The difference: she lies to guidance abbot how she's really feeling but forcibly spills her guts to the teacher. Guidance took it a step further: they called her parents. This should have been the beginning of the end, right? Wrong. Now, she refuses to talk with her parents, shutting herself up in her room and dreading being home. Their relationship is more strained than ever, leaving another ten pounds on her shoulders.

Someone dealing with situations like these all at once, especially one struggling to find their own place in the world, can flip their whole view of themselves. The most can look at themself and start questioning who they really are, subconciously losing confidence in themselves because it's what all their friends are doing andthey want to fit in. It can never, ever, EVER reach this point. The situation will keep spreading and will leave everyone feeling miserable all the time.

The two students mentioned here are not alone in this world, unfortunately. Cutting seems to be the new fad in depression, and unfair treatment or lack of self-confidence provokes suicide like it always did. It doesn't have to continue, though. Make an effort to keep people in good spirits, even if it's just a smile. A smile can change a mood; keep on smiling, and maybe that funk can be erased for good.