Overcoming social anxiety, depression, fear and isolation

Hello my dear donors,

I have a lovely friend of mine, whose name I would like to keep annonymous. She is just 16 years old but suffering from depression, social anxiety and isolation in school.

The situation is quite severe as it started a long time ago. Since primary school, she was constantly bullied, being called skinny, weird and ugly. No doubt she is a little peculiar, as in her viewpoints and personal style, but she is indeed very good and special. She owns a variety of talents, which I think many people are jealous of, and she is extremely positive. No matter how bad a situation is, she always looks at the bright side and finds solutions to solve it.

She is very intelligent! She isn't a mugger, nor a memoriser, but she somehow has the wisdom and ability to do everthing quite perfectly! Be it arts, music, academics, speech, anything you can think of!

Damn, but there're always people around who keep putting or letting her down, telling her how impossible everything is. Personally, I feel that they're either just stubborn or trying to make her give up. Before she can even elaborate or explain, they cut her off! Then, they start calling her a cry baby or a virus and other sorts of awful names. I know she always tries to hold in her tears, but some words can be sharper than swords, even if she dosen't cries on the spot, she holds in until before bedtime. As she floats into dreamland, tears start to roll down her cheeks onto her pillow. Those times when she has nightmares, she never awakes, for when she wakes up, another horrible dream awaits.

This lead her into insomnia. She soon became a nightowl, working, eating and studying at wrong hours. Her parents tried to help, sadly, they ran out of solutions. The teachers, year heads and principals tried to meet her up with counsellors, psychologists, and even psychiatrists. However, these cause her a huge load of embarrasement and humiliation. Whenever her schoolmates ask her what's wrong, she just can't bring herself to answer them.

It also resulted in social isolation, anxiety and depression. She became unusually quiet, not longer bubbly and chatty, she even stopped laughing at my lame jokes, haha. Now, laugh! Just kidding. She spends less time outdoors, or even out of her room. She became frail and fell sick easily. Her medical bills skyrocketed.

While most people her age go out, visit malls and museums, ride roller coasters, find boyfriends, etc. She spends most of her time locking herself up in her own room. She rarely gets any invitation out for movies or karaoke, not even after the termly exam periods. I know, deep inside she is sad about that, afterall, they're her classmates whom she meets nearly everyday. Occasionally, she tries to organise her own outings, but those outings either "kena rejected" or they "go fly her kite".

As her best friend, I am genuinely worried for her. Her major exams are around the corner, and it determines her tertiary education and possibly her job! Her parents have spent a lot of $$$ on medical, and a lot of their time being chased by teachers. This events are very stressful, no wonder their hair is turning white at an even faster rate, haha! Okay, all jokes aside, this is a serious matter. Instead of investing their time, efforts and money on her talents, they have wasted them on all these social pressures.

Please, help my friend, and her parents, lighten their financial burden, and perhaps use a little to help her out with her new hobby. Although she no longer has the guts to perform on stage and rake in the trophies like she used to, thankfully, she has found a new hobby. Her recent hobby is collecting K-pop girl group merchandise like cards and albums. If you can, help her with this too!

Thanks so much for patiently reading this post. I do hope that you can sincerely help my friend, as of now financially first, please bring back the smile in my friend and her family. Thank you once again!