Depression among students @Inksvoice

My story

I am the fifth child in my family. I was the only child that was allowed to go to school. This was due to some financial challenges at home. My brothers; Emeka, Uche, Sam, and David had given up on academics and decided to find other alternatives in life.

Emeka had to sell his only motorcycle, David had to pawn his shoes and Dad had to sell his only piece of land. Mum had to sell one of her fabrics.
All these were done so I could pay for school Fees when I gained my admission.

When I came to school, I liked the fact that I made some nice friends, and at least it made the beautiful aspect of my first few weeks in school. I liked the friendly environment and I was happy to be in school.
Then, something happened that turned my stay here into a hostile one for me.

I was confused about my studies. I couldn’t understand what the lecturers were teaching anymore.
I tried reaching out to friends for help but everyone was busy trying to meet up with the pressure from academics as well.

My brain would not assimilate whenever I decide to read. I wasn’t getting a grasp of my lectures either.
One fateful morning, we were given an assignment on a course of mine that could make or mar my grade points for that semester. The thoughts of how I would go about it were overwhelming. There was no one to talk to, about what I was facing at that moment. I was still ruminating on how to go about the first assignment when we were given other assignments, term papers, and presentations.

I could not meet up with the submission of the assignments and presentations because I had no idea of what to do on them.

Three weeks later, an exam timetable was released. At this point, I could not deal with the pressure anymore and the fear of disappointing my family was all in my face. At this point, I slipped into depression and secluded myself from everyone.

Since I knew that I had nothing to write for the exams, I decided not to go for them at all. I decided not to go home and face my family either. I locked myself in my room whenever my roommates went for their papers. They didn’t know what was wrong with me. They didn't let my mental health deteriorate. I didn’t say this earlier, the suicidal thoughts kept coming. If I couldn’t go home and school wasn't fun either, what was the point of living?

On this fateful day, I decided that it was time to go the place beyond. I watched my room mates leave the hostel and started making attempts to execute my mission. I got a rope from my roommate's box and tied it to the ceiling fan. As I was about to attach it to my neck so I could choke myself to death our hostel warden opened the door to my room.

I was surprised because He rarely ever enters our rooms. I asked myself, “why this faithful day”? He stopped me from committing suicide and took me to His office to speak to me. I explained what I was facing and He took me to the school’s counselor.

The counselor listened to me and assured me I was going to get help. She spoke to me about how suicide wouldn’t have been of help if I had gone through with it. I was referred for therapy and I was also given a leave of absence to take care of myself. I went home after my parents were summoned by the school. My parents were supportive throughout my therapy sessions and my mental health crisis. Now, I am a final year student with a 4.35 CGPA and also doing fine.

Depression is one of the major issues facing the youths now. Some challenges come from academics, relationships, and peer pressure.
It is something that should be critically given adequate attention within the youths.

Thank you all, for reading.