Feeling off the track? no way out? Flipped out?

Every girl is feeling sad at one time

Every girl is feeling sad at some time, uneasy, tired, discouraged, confused, angry, sleeping badly, having no appetite or being hungry all the time. This is totally normal and is part of life. Only when these feelings become particularly strong and persist over a longer period of time, you may be suffering from psychological stress and you therefore need help. But, of course, this does not mean that you are mentally ill!

Growing up is a very strenuous process, you know. Within a few years, your body and your personality change in such a profound way as never again in your life. This is a great challenge for you and you often think you cannot cope with all these changes. Perhaps you do not understand life any more – and sometimes even yourself. And this can cause real stress. When you are completely confused, when you are on an emotional roller coaster, you might need help in order to have everything under control again, (to sort out yourself), to define and eventually achieve your goal.

 

It's not your day? Feeling depressed? Fed up with everything? Sad?

There a many reasons for feeling sad: because you feel the pangs of love, your grandma died, your parents quarrel or are about to get divorced, your best friend moved to another town, or because you feel treated in an unfair way … sometimes you feel sad and angry at the same time. It is not easy to endure these feelings but they are part of life. Normally, things are improving in the course of time – especially when there are people who understand your grief and your anger and who treat you with loving care.

When you notice

• that you feel worse and worse
• that you feel even sadder and less hopeful
• that you have no appetite any more or stuff yourself with anything
• that you sleep bad night after night
• that you are fed up with meeting your friends and that it' s no fun whatever you do
• that you find it hard to concentrate
• that it is hard for you to take decisions
• that you are afraid of next day and feel like staying in bed all day
• that everything seems to be grey and senseless to you
• that your life becomes totally unbearable and you wish to be dead

and when all these moods do not ease after several weeks, you urgently need help.

What can you do:

Look out for a trustworthy person (for instance, a female relative or a teacher) in order to talk about everything and to find ways so that you feel better again.

In many cities there are counselling centres where you get help. You call one of theemergency numbers. You may write us an email.

 

Fear

Everybody knows fear - funny, isn't it? If we didn't, we would easily expose ourselves to all kinds of danger: for instance, when crossing the road without looking to the left or right. So fear can help us to anticipate dangerous situations. In this way, we are able to avoid unnecessary dangers.

Some girls are more timid than other girls, that's just the way it is. But you get into real trouble when you are dominated by your fear – when you are unable to control it. For instance, some people are terribly afraid of certain animals and because of that they try to avoid by all means to run into them. So perhaps you do not want to leave the house any more because a dog could possibly cross your way on the road. This is silly, of course, because you will also miss all the other nice things you can only do outside your house.

Your fear gets stronger the more you 'feed' it by trying to avoid it – the fear of your fear. When your fear becomes so powerful that you no longer attend school or miss your vocational training, than you'll get more problems. Sometimes your fears are so strong that they cause physical problems: you are gasping for air, your heart beats too fast, you start trembling, sweating or feeling cold. When the fear gets bigger than you, you need help.

What can you do:

Look out for a trustworthy person (for example, e female relative, a teacher) in order to talk about everything and to find ways out in order that you feel better again.

In many cities there are counselling centres where you find help. You call one of theemergency numbers. You may write us an email.