Anonymous asked this question on 4/29/2000:

I feel like I have been locked up forever. My feelings are just know started to come out. I'm not sure if what I am feeling is depression or if it is something else. My family has treated me bad for a long time. I haven't ever said anything because I didn't know how and now that I have told a couple people I feel said and lonely all the time like no one understands. I guess what I need is probably someone just to talk to and understand me. I don't think that someone who is 16 should feel this way. Maybe someone can help me. Bye

kinghappy gave this response on 4/29/2000:

noone should have to feel that way, but unfortunately everyone does from time to time, and some more often than others. so what you are feeling is normal and natural, you are human , and we all get lonely and sad, especially if we have been having a rough time. our families our important in our lives. often, if we feel alienated by our families, we have a hard time connecting with others, since our family interaction is a sort of model for social interaction with the rest of the world. your family has treated you badly, and the effect of it has hit you and caused you to feel isolated and depressed. a common symptom of depression is a feeling that noone understands how you are feeling. as for what to do about it. i know the worst thing to do is to keep it bottled up. you need to talk about it with someone, a friend or a family member that you are comfortable with. if possible i strongly suggest talking to a professional, i know you may not want to involve your family , so one that costs money may be out. but if you can get your parents to let you see a psychologist, or counselor, i strongly suggest it. if not, a school counselor is equally as helpful and this may be your best option. also, i just wanted to ask if you have tried to explain to your family how you feel and maybe work it out with them? i know this may be alot to ask, but often we are unaware how our actions affect others, this may be the case with your family, they may not know how you feel due to how they treat you. but i understand that you may not be able to talk about this with them. in the meantime, i feel that staying as active as possible is very important as well as maintainig contact with close friends. find something you enjoy doing and use that to vent these feelings. but please do try to talk to someone in person about this as they will be able to better assist you than any of us here. preferably a professional, but a good friend can do the trick. and at first it will feel odd to talk about this as you are just now trying to deal with it. you have kept it inside so long that letting it out seems uncomfortable, but with time you will see that talking it out is the right path, and it will get easier with time. if you need some more advice, or some specifics, just let me know.

Anonymous asked this follow-up question on 4/30/2000:

Thank you for your help. I will try to talk to someone. I have tried to talk to my family and the just brush me off like I'm not even there. You know like change the subject or something. I have a really close friend who is an adult. I guess I could try talking to him. The career he is in maybe able to help a little. But thank you for your time. Bye

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