Do not let Depression become your friend

Depression can begin to play with your mind.  It can become your identity and take over your life.  It becomes your new best friend.  The kind of friend that moves in and you can't get rid of.  Other people will leave you but depression moves in and stays.  It becomes stronger, as you become weaker.  It lies to us and wants to destroy us.  It becomes familiar and comfortable and dangerous.

Getting rid of depression can be one of the hardest things you will ever do.  It takes effort, work and professional help.  I am not talking about being a little down.  I am talking about the kind of depression that freezes you and can kill you.  People die from depression everyday.  Everyone will say something like, "I new he was feeling kind of down, but I didn't know it was that bad."  It is to late because he or she took their own life.

If you feel like depression has completely taken over your life and you feel helpless here are some good resources.  There is nothing shameful about seeking help! 

HOTLINE & HELPLINE INFORMATION
24-hour Hotlines

National Hopeline Network 1-800-784-2433 (1-800-SUICIDE) http://www.hopeline.com/

National Suicide Prevention Helpline 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK)
Helplines & Resources

Includes many local 24-hour hotlines along with support for suicide survivors, suicide prevention and suicide statistics

American Association of Suicidology http://www.suicidology.org/

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention http://www.afsp.org/

Befrienders International with The Samaritans:


Search for support worldwide at http://www.befrienders.org/

Search resources in the United States at http://www.befrienders.org/helplines/helplines.asp?c2=USA

Families for Depression Awareness http://www.familyaware.org/

Prevent Suicide Now http://www.preventsuicidenow.com/

Psycom.net


Suicide prevention resources, worldwide hotline links http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.suicide.html

Suicide Hotline Listing by State http://www.suicidehotlines.com/

Suicide Prevention Action Network USA http://www.spanusa.org/

UCLA School Mental Health Project:


Hotlines for suicide prevention and other crisis resources http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/hotline.htm

ULifeLine College network http://www.ulifeline.org/