Depression and Relationship Problems

Postby downthelane » Sat Jun 24, 2017 5:02 am

I want to apologize because I already know this is going to be a long one. Also, I am on a phone, so I apologize for any typos, too.

To explain what's up, I need to go back a few months. I'm a 17 year old guy, and I'm gay. I came out to my best friend as bi a few months ago because I was worried he wouldn't accept me (he comes from a Catholic family). I begged him not to tell anybody. He was totally fine with it, but I wasn't. Later that week I started feeling incredibly depressed. I hated being gay, hated all the homophobia and challenges that I knew I was going to have to live through, and I hated myself. I started feeling suicidal, and the only person I could reach out to for help was the same friend I came out to. Thankfully, he talked to me by text for a while and I started feeling a bit better. I begged him not to tell anyone about it, because I was worried that my parents would eventually find out that I was gay when I wasn't ready to tell them if he did.

Fast forward a few more weeks, and things started going downhill again. I had just been told by a medical professional that he couldn't fix the sports injury I'd been trying to take care of for a while. This got me really upset, because I had been talking to some of my dream colleges and feared that my chances of going were shattered because I wouldn't be able to finish the season. Being convinced that my future education and athletics were gone, I was devastated. I fell into depression again, which reminded me of how much I already hated myself for being gay, which made the depression worse. I started thinking about suicide again, and was visibly struggling with these issues at practice. But this time I didn't get any support from my best friend; he never asked if I was ok or even talked to me. I didn't understand why, and I got extremely upset with him and stopped communicating with him.

Moving forward three more months, I still hadn't talked to my friend and he still hadn't talked to me. The whole time, I'd been struggling on and off with my problems, but either nobody noticed or nobody said anything to me about it. I was beaten to the ground by this point - I didn't really have any other good friends, and the only good one I'd had had just been torn out of my life. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore, so I tried to bury the hatchet, work up my courage, and talk to him. I was still absolutely furious with him for abandoning me when I needed him the most, and it was really hard for me to do.

The conversations didn't go well. I expressed how upset it had made me that he wasn't there to support me and tried to explain why I was so angry at him. His response was that he had tried his best, but that I just blind to his help. He said I always just dump my problems on him and expect him to fix everything. That wasn't how I felt, though. All I had wanted was for him to ask if I was ok, just anything to show that he cared about me. I didn't understand how he had "tried his best", because he never even talked to me.

Moving forward to yesterday (after a few more days of arguments), he eventually tells me that when I first told him I was contemplating suicide, he went and told his dad. His dad suggested he go and talk to our coach (we are on the same sports team) because he's more experienced with this kind of thing. So, I found out that he had done the ONE thing I had pleaded him NOT to do: tell other people. He told me that he and our coach were meeting regulary to talk about how I was doing. I finally understood what he had meant about doing "all he could". But I feel so betrayed and angry and upset and terrified. Now my coach knows I'm gay (actually bi, because I never told my friend I was actually gay) and I feel absolutely awful about it. I'm so incredibly angry at my friend now, and I think it's safe to say that he's the only person I've ever truly hated with all my being. I told him I need to talk to him in person about this, because texting like we've been doing all week wasn't sufficient. I'm going to meet with him tomorrow in a private, isolated park so we can talk. I have no idea what I'm going to say. Yes, he does care about me because he tried to seek help from adults. But at the same time, that was the LAST thing I wanted him to do. I wasn't ready to tell other people I was gay, but he took that option away from me and told people anyway. His reasoning was that "people are going to find out in the end anyway, why does it matter who knows now". But that's the most private part of my life and deep, personal thing that I'm not at all comfortable sharing, and he disrespected me by sharing it. I'm so unvelievably angry at him right now. I faked being sick because I was going to have a breakdown at practice today and I just needed to get away.

Am I justified in feeling how I do? What can I even say to him? I don't want to lose him as a friend because I know how good he's been to me the last few years, but at the same time I've never, ever, EVER been this upset because of something someone's done, and I don't know how I'd ever get over this. I feel ashamed of myself being at practice in front of my coach now, and I hate myself more than ever. I don't know who else my coach has told, he might have even told my parents by now and I feel so exposed and vulnerable and I hate it. And in the end, my friend told my deepest secret to multiple people, and they didn't even talk to me or do anything. So now I feel like he just ruined part of my life for no reason at all - the adults were no help. I don't know what to do and I need help.
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#1

Postby Richard@DecisionSkills » Sun Jun 25, 2017 2:21 am

You put a huge, huge, huge burden on your friend and expected him to help you with three legs and a hand tied behind his back. Now you are angry at him for disobeying the rules you mandated to him that made him feel like it was an impossible, hopeless task.

Did your friend go outside of the rules you mandated? Yes. Can you understand why? This post is clear evidence you only are looking at it from your rights, your right to burden a friend, place impossible constraints on them, and then be upset when they can't help you based on the rules you established. Your friend became exhausted with your ridiculous expectations as you placed him in a lose, lose situation. Do you often place friends in a situation where they are trapped, where no matter what they do it will be wrong?

Do you have a right to feel angry? Sure, your friend broke your trust. But, he has the right to be angry as well for placing him in a situation where he becomes your punching bag. How much punching does he need to take? The fact he is still around says a lot. He can take a lot more punches than I can. If I were your friend I would have not violated your trust. I would have kept your secret, but I also would have told you to go screw yourself when you were blind to any advice provided. I would have said "good luck" and good riddance as I moved on to try and help others that don't expect me to solve their problems with both hands tied behind my back.

I think you need to cut your friend a break. He is a much better friend than I would be.
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#2

Postby downthelane » Mon Jun 26, 2017 4:15 am

I understand I didn't do everything right. But as I told him many times, I never expected him to solve my problems. He can't, and even I know that. All I needed was a "hey, you ok?" text, or anything just to let me know he was there. That second week when I was feeling suicidal again, he never even said hi to me. He actually ignored me when he saw me.

Look at it this way: If he had told me that HE was feeling suicidal, I would have been talking to him EVERY day, JUST to make sure he was ok. To me, not even talking AT ALL just shows that he didn't care. How was I supposed to know what he waa doing in the background? All I could see was by best friend watching me struggle, and him turn the other way.

So I don't agree with you at all. If you would literally ignore me and pretend like I don't exist while you KNOW what I'm going through, then you're just as bad. My "ridiculous expectations" were by NO MEANS "ridiculous", unless you think you'll die if you say four simple words.

I made it clear to him that I didn't expect him to solve or fix my problems, only to show in SOME way that he was there for me.

Next, ever since he told me about who he disclosed my situation to, I've been feeling worse and worse. Before, I had felt suicidal but I knew inside that I didn't want to. These last few days I've been feeling suicidal, and I'm really running dry on reasons not to. The thought of how my family would feel if I did it is really the only thing I'm holding on to now.

I've been trying to talk to him. I thought it would help if we could just talk about things without getting angry like we do when we text. He agreed that it would be a good idea last week. But he bailed on talking yesterday. He claimed he couldn't today. We planned on tomorrow, but he just bailed on me again a few hours ago. It's so blaringly obvious that he's trying to get out of it. I had planned on apologizing, but I think I'm done now. I don't want to talk to him anymore. I don't feel like talking to anybody anymore, not even my own family. This has been on my mind every minute of the day since last week, and I can't handle it anymore.
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#3

Postby Richard@DecisionSkills » Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:50 am

downthelane wrote: All I needed was a "hey, you ok?" text, or anything just to let me know he was there.


If that is all you needed, that is what you would have told him. But you didn't. You told him, "Can you keep a secret? I'm bisexual and on and on and on." Your posts reveal your expectations are much more than simply only a "hey you okay".

Now you are trying to track him down for what reason? To say, "I'm okay."??? No! You want to have a full on conversation about how he failed you.

Start being honest with yourself. You want to believe and tell yourself all you wanted was something simple, but that is bull and you know it. If he would ask, "You okay?" that would not have been sufficient. You would be unhappy regardless of what he did or did not do, but you won't admit that to yourself. That is one of the unfortunate consequences of depression, that it only works by blaming others for their perceived failures of not sufficiently caring.

Instead of blaming others for not caring, maybe start reflecting on what he did do, the actions he did show that he cared. It was much more than a "you okay" text. Like I said, lose/lose situation. His help had to be exactly what you wished. Not too much acknowledgement of your problem, not too little acknowledgement of your problem, just the right amount of acknowledgement of which you get to approve. Good luck with that.
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