Aren't We All Lost Souls? by @cinda7 (Cinda 7)

I recently read an interesting article in Newsweek about teen depression. I found it so facinating. People used to think that when teens acted rebellious and cried for no reason, everyone thought it was normal, and those who didn't was considered abnormal. Now new brain research now considers that depression. It used to be that depression was only for adults. Now they've dicovered that depression can come to kids as young as 4. It's possible that I have depression. Maybe not... maybe I'm still just suffereing from the loss of Phoenix. (It's been exactly one month and a day since he died.) I spent most of last night crying about it. I was finally able to go to sleep, but that's beside the point. The point is, teens are suffereing severly. They always have been and always will, and the adults make it no better. They expect the best from all teens and even that's not enough to satisfy them. It's like the only way teens can make adults happy is for them to work their butts off until they go insane. All their teachers keep piling homework on them to the point to where they don't have any more free time. Think about it: There are 24 hours in a day. We need at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep a day. We need another 7 hours to go to school. That's 9 to 7 hours of free time. I don't want to spend it doing homework and projects. They say homework only takes 30 minutes to an hour to do homework. Uh... YEAH RIGHT!!! Besides? What's the point of homework? We already spend a lot of our week in school. We need that time in order to do the stuff we want to do. And you know the really sucky part? Even if something came up, the teachers don't care, they still make you do homework. They wouldn't care if you were on your DEATH BED and only had one hour to live, they'd still make you do your homework. (Yes, I'm exaggerating, but that's what it feels like.) For those teachers who let you slow down and help their student out of their depression, God bless them. I'm sorry, I'm babbling. It's just I've been so flipin' depressed lately that it's hard for me to catch up on all my school work. Especially in math. I'm thinking about asking my mom if I can take homeschool. Maybe I can homeschool with Shifty. It just seems better than having to go through school and depression at the same time. School is just making me even more depressed. As for the pic, well... lately it feels like I'm surrounded by darkness in a hopeless search for light. Thank God for friends and family. I probably would've gotten even more depresed without them. And if you people think I'm going to commit suicide, then stop thinking that, because I'm NOT! To some people, it's the only choice. I have reasons to keep myself alive; my family, friends, and my goals. I want to become a cartoonist, I want to meet other cartoonists. How can I do that if I'm dead? The very thought frightens me. And I thank God that I'm alive and I pray that I live a full life and don't die young. I can't believe you are still reading my useless babble that I have typed. But I thank you that you did. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that all you good, kind people live your life at it's fullest. If your sad, get help because no one should so through the depression I'm going through. Don't get lost in the blackness that surrounds me. I am still in my search for light. I still have a few comforts within this black, cold pit we call life. I'm glad I still have my friends, a loving family, and a roof over my head. And I thank God for it. Hopefully this dark room will be less dark if I take homeschool. The more light I find, the less likely I will stumble in the dark. I pray for myself, and for all the good people of this universe. May God bless you all... --- Cinda 7
Artwork © Copyright 2002 Cinda 7