Sophia.
Feelings you speak of are bad indeed and potentially disastrous, even though every person is unique and everyone's pain is their own, I think I've been through those suicidal feelings you talk about and I'm still apparently alive to tell the tale although not exactly unscathed.
Without any fake courtesies let me remember how it was for me and share the memories. I hope it's allowed, maybe this ain't gonna be pretty. Perhaps my post would prove to be of aid to you somehow, provide yet another friendly hand to help you maintain balance and focus on your current goals.
Strangely, it's hard to remember how I felt several years back and actual events' details. It could be because I've changed so much or it's a sign of some psychotic anomaly, those of you who have the luxury of reading Freud or Nietzsche without feeling like your brain is being boiled may tell me about that but I suppose it's the former.
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I'm not ashamed to admit that I dropped out of university because of my own laziness, extreme SA and depression. Maybe some still believe that those aren't significant enough reasons to quit educational institutions, but I can assure you, for me they were the most reasonous reasons back at the time. Generally, you are not me and people who tell you what to do, Sophia, they aren't in your shoes, they don't feel what you feel and they all possibly have different understandings of such things as green color or Am chord being played or mental pain.
So.. I'm sure I gave out signs of being in need of help and support. I said I'm suffering from depression, I said it's hard for me with all these people around (despite that I was never bullied and people saw me as confident externally I suppose, it still was almost unbearably painful for me to socialize). No one gave a honeysuckle about my difficulties and frankly, what could they do? If I had switched to different educational program, when you don't have to attend lectures, the army would track down my ass and draft me, now let me tell you, armed forces here isn't the place you want to end up as 18 years old skinny socially anxious national minority guy. Life in barracks of mighty post-soviet armies means beatings, hunger, informal prison camp-like codex of rules, hazing, sodomy and God knows what else. It's common knowledge, you can easily stumble upon some army report that proudly states they only had 107 recruits commit suicide that year. Makes me wonder how much more own soldiers' lives does Motherland claim annually. Some say thousands of boys.
Anyway, in my opinion, there are few fearsome torture machines designed by humankind that are as horrible as the one that makes you do something you hate doing over and over and over again until you forget who you are. In the end I gave up trying to drag my hide to classes daily against my will and stopped giving a fresia about my life altogether. I simply didn't go to the lectures once and with every passing day after there was even less of a reason to bother, they eventually ceased disturbing my phone, the university payment debt grew in size but I didn't care about education, about the army, about the fact that I was slowly rotting down willingly locked away from the world for years, two years I think, with just one New Year party in between.
I believed I was damaged goods, unfit for life. My brain slowly and secretly transformed into torture device, some sort of mental contraption, you were so precise in your description of it. But my plagues are irrelevant here, everyone has their own kind of suffering, customized to fit each individual 'better', it might be that MechanicalMishka's pain greatly differs from SophiaGrace's.
Suicidal thoughts is what we have in common. I've seen plenty of dead bodies as a kid, both of my closest friends and family as well as those of complete strangers. I've become accustomed with the thought that I'm going to die, or later even going to kill myself, in fact it provided me comfort and peace, I've taught myself to accept that suicide will be necessary someday. I knew I can die at any time I choose to and by doing that escape anything. Any kind of physical or mental pain, imagine that. Like clicking X in the upper right corner of you video player if you don't like the movie you're watching, or "Quit" option if you're bored with the game, pure magic, wondrous really if you take your time to fully comprehend the possibilities. I'm atheist and I know that I am going to die sooner or later no matter how hard I try not to, so why should I believe those who say suicide is a sin and not the only true human right I can count upon? I scribed what I thought was a witty two-line suicide note, pedantically made crucial preparations, even though I always was way too light-headed to finish anything, and proceeded to 'waste' my life in apathy towards any ambitions and aspirations I've had, doing only what I want and enjoy doing.
Then of course eventually it was the time for me to die. I received an invitation to join the glorious armed forces, the debt was too high to hope to handle, depression really got to me, et cetera. No one should question my reasons, they were enough for me to go with the 'become dead to avoid dealing with honeysuckle' choice.
I didn't care about putting up a dramatic show so I opted for one of the relatively painless methods(although not very inventive or flashy), but I failed cutting out the blood flow properly and my head felt like it was going to implode, a terrible sensation. I should say it's not the pain that was the worst part of my suicide attempt though. FEAR. THAT'S IT! IT'S OVER! I knew there are primal instincts of self-preservation, but I didn't know how powerful they are, after all, I trained myself to accept death. I wished to turn into liquid and pour out from the noose, I wanted to asphyxiate the ligature with my neck and I even tried. After about a minute that I spent desperately struggling for consciousness, finally it started to fade out and only then I was (un?)fortunately saved.
Even now I cannot fix myself, I will always think of suicide as a release in case life takes a wrong turn. I don't even try to get rid of this mentality, it's impossible, once you know something as certain truth you cannot unknow it, regretfully. You're right, therapists are ineffective here. Even if there were any decently educated specialists where I'm currently located.
1:" Dude don't die plz."
2:" Okay. Maybe later then."
1:" Cool! Run along now."
I know my death will either be unnatural and violent or a suicide. It's OK.
It's supposed to be my own secret coping mechanism, but when I feel bad (which happens a bit less lately) I consider myself already dead, and then I feel empty instead of sad (hard to tell which is worse), void of emotions, nothing matters. Sometimes I envy those who can heartily laugh and smile, such simple things are almost impossible for me to pull off now, even crying (I can feel sadness, no tears though), after this much time I've spent with suicidal mentality. That's how being undead feels to me. Seems like someone forgot to bury my flesh and a random chubby American kid distracted God with his cute bedtime prayer when the Almighty was in the middle of switching my brain activity off, so he just deactivated the "emotions" and "happiness" switches and later got sidetracked. We all know God is awful at multitasking, with all due respect.
You may not believe me but somehow healthy joyful normal people can see I'm hollowed out, so they don't bother, it looks like they sense it, say I'm cold, sometimes they can say nothing, I know they picked up the vibes, just don't have suitable words for my description in their careless-zombie consumer reality.
You are in danger, Sophia, seek help among your friends, fight against your reasons, I fear it's the only way to avert tragedy. If you think I may be of some e-help to you or aid you otherwise, just ask. No fake good manner bullshit intended here, I mean it.
By the way, this is real me. Hello and nice to meet you.
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At first I wanted to join in with the positive choir or just drop a line about not repeating others' mistakes. But honestly? I have to keep telling my truth, why bother with false pleasantries? Only you are capable to feel what is right for you. You know, I'll say it, just quit the college if you believe it's better that way, it's not such a big deal, what's more important is your overall well-being. Say "fresia you" to whoever disagrees, I know it takes immense amount of courage for majority of people to do what they cannot predict the outcome of, but seriously what can they possibly do to you? You're an adult, I'm sure you can fight off a couple of angered parents (who actually love you and wish you the best, so they may possibly understand your reasons some day) and you'd do well without college degree, you aren't in some Blablastan, are you? I can say with no doubt that for me it would've been of no difference if I had that Turkish economics diploma under a thick layer of dust somewhere or not. At any rate, "Merhaba" means "Hi" is likely the only bit of knowledge they managed to teach me there, it is disposable and obtainable elsewhere, definitely not at such a high price. I just wish I never gone to the university, started to do what I know is right a bit earlier, instead of doing what others thought I should.
I hope this bloated crap of a post gives you a push in the right direction, away from the edge and not towards it, but if someone in authority deems this offensive, racist, sexist or otherwise insulting/dangerous content, you guys may delete it, I'm not here to cause drama, it's at your discretion now.
Be content with any route you wish to take, Sophia. Take care of yourself.