Katrina Tagget

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words from an academic paper Kara wrote in September 2008

When it hurts this much, all there is to try to do is muster up some hope that something, anything, will happen to make things a little better, a little brighter.

There is a vast difference between short term, typical pain or sadness and lingering, drawn out misery; misery that looms over one’s head, that is felt within one’s heart, and which slowly chisels away at and destroys the carefree soul of one’s early youth. This prolonged mental duress, wherever its cause, can completely alter a person’s life. It is this tightening in your heart. It is the heavy, unrelenting tears that pour out of your eyes and stream down your face, soon hitting your chin and then continuing down your neck. If you have ever felt a tint of that, you can start to imagine how trying life can be for people who feel almost nothing but that. This pain, whether it be a type of depression or anxiety or something that cannot be categorized, it exists and is real and many find themselves enslaved by such emotions.

The act of killing oneself is absolutely taboo, to the point where someone who even considers doing such a thing is often taught to feel ashamed. If someone wants to end their life, as much as it might hurt, we must remember that person is probably going through more pain than we can spin our heads around.