Alex's Answer

Hi there, and welcome to Ask Pat 

Thank you for sending us your question and we’re glad you felt comfortable enough to share your thoughts with us. It sounds like you’re going through a rough time at the minute, we are sorry to hear that. You say that you’re feeling so worthless that at times, you want your life to end, but even when you try and go through with it, it doesn’t seem to go according to plan. It must be tough for you having these negative thoughts and feelings about yourself, and this question is very personal to you and what’s going on in your life. You took a positive and proactive step for yourself in reaching out to talk to someone, so well done for that.  

How we feel about ourselves can be a difficult and complicated thing to cope with, particularly if we are feeling low about ourselves and might be struggling with low mood and a negative outlook. There are many people of all ages who struggle with similar issues, so please know you are not alone and there are supports and services out there for young people who may need a bit of help in this area. 

Have you considered the idea of chatting to someone in your life about what you are experiencing? Talking to someone can be a great way of expressing the various things that may be impacting on how we feel about ourselves. Chatting with a trusted adult such as a parent or other family member, coach, teacher or even a friend could be your first step on the road to feeling well. Although it can be a difficult thing to do, talking to someone might be a good way for you to reflect on how you feel about yourself and perhaps together with your trusted person, you come up with some ideas about how you might improve your self-esteem. Self-care is a very important aspect of wellbeing and our overall health so taking time to rest, relax, do things you enjoy and making sure you look after your mind and body with healthy eating and exercise would be a few little things you could try to put into practice in your daily life that you might find helpful.  

It is important that you are safe and feel supported. Your GP could be someone you can confide in as they may be able to help you find ways to increase your sense of wellbeing. Remember, you have a right to access medical supports. Furthermore, there are a number of organisations in Ireland that may be able to provide you with various resources and services to help you with building up your self-esteem and developing a brighter outlook on your life. We suggest having a look at the following websites for more information about what help is available to you: www.pietahouse.ie; www.jigsaw.ie; www.yourmentalhealth.ie; www.childline.ie;. You can also contact emergency services if ever you feel you are in danger or a risk to your own safety, they can be contacted by calling 999 or 112 any time, from any phone, free of charge. 

Childline also have a number of free listening services if you ever want to chat about anything that’s on your mind. You can talk to Childline anytime as our listening service runs 24 hours a day. It’s a free, confidential, non-judgemental service and we can by contacted by calling 1800 66 66 66, texting 50101 or online chat via our website www.childline.ie.  

Please feel free to contact us whenever you need to talk and know that we’re always here to listen. Thank you for contacting us and we hope you find this response helpful. 

Take care, 

Pat.