Take it from someone the same age who really, truly knows what this all feels like. This is from a familiar soul BTW, you'll see in a bit.

It does get better. I KNOW that sounds like a damn PSA, but there comes a point where there's nowhere to go but up. Your head wants to pull you down, but you can't give in to it. Sometimes no one knows what's best for you, even you. There's always a sliver of light, there's always an unseen foothold. Also note that what you feel and what IS are not always in keeping with one another. I've been battling depression and OCD for half my life. I'm a minority in all but 1 area of society. I've given up more times than I can recall. Had breakdowns. The hard thing is, I can't give you a miracle cure for it, or a "here's how I did it" that sounds very satisfying. I kept giving up, staying in bed. I also kept dragging myself out of it. I can't overly say why - only that it's important I did, because eventually I had yet ANOTHER breakdown. This sounds negative, but oddly, no - there just came a point. Turns out, there's a middle ground between "fuck it all" and quitting and "fuck it all" not worrying about shit. It just kind of happened. Something clicked. This was only a year and a half ago. And it's been hard as all hell, but I've gotten myself in tune enough with reality and found /created enough positive to sit here right now and say that it does get better. I never thought I'd be someone who could say such a thing. Ever. I dunno if any of this has helped - I have trouble communicating certain things, especially when it gets intense like this. Please keep on fighting.

Paige / Ravvy (I've actually just left you an open thank you letter oof sorts on the forum earlier - seriously, you're the man, buddy)