Pat's Answer

Hello, your very Welcome to Ask Pat. 

It seems that you are going through a lot right now, missing your friends, being worried about Covid-19 and feeling depressed. You are asking what you can do to stop your depression. 

Well done for reaching out for support and trusting Ask Pat with your thoughts and feelings. With the restrictions surrounding Covid-19 and the worries of the virus, it’s understandable you feel that Covid-19 is having an impact on your mental well-being. We know how worrying it can be and how you would be concerned about what is going on around you. It sounds like you want to keep yourself and your family safe, yet your sister is going out to play with her friends. It seems like you are not too happy about that. 

You say that you have no phone to contact your friends. Have you thought about other ways to keep in touch with them? You did a wonderful job communicating with us, how would you feel about contacting your friends in a similar way? 

You have the right to get support around your feelings about Covid-19 and especially your feelings of depression. Talking can really help. Do you have somebody you trust to talk with? This could be an adult that you feel comfortable talking to, like a parent, an extended family member, aunt, uncle or indeed your doctor.  

Ask Pat would not be able to answer your question of how to stop your depression as we are not medically trained, but your doctor would be able to give you the best support with the diagnosis and treatment. There are organisations available that may be of help and support to you also. www.yourmentalhealth.ie and www.jigsaw.ie are two websites which you might like to look at. There are articles on the Childline website on both mental health and Covid-19. It is a great place for you to have a look for information and advice. Some articles which could help you today are www.childldine.ie/how-i-feel.ie  and www.childline.ie/childline-covid-19-resilience-hub/  

The services at Childline are here for you too. We can help you look at the options that are available to you. We are here twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The services are free and confidential.  We don’t trace phone numbers or IP addresses. The Childline phone number is 1800 66 66 66 and the text number is 50101. There is also a web chat which you access through www.childline.ie.  

Reaching out asking for support is a very proactive step, well done! Talking things out is a huge help to everyone. You now know how to contact us, so please feel at ease to do so. There will be somebody waiting at the other end of the phone/computer to chat with you. 

Take care and keep safe,  

Pat