Hi, my name is Bella and I'm 19. I live with my parents and my sister, Lucy. For the past couple of years (not sure how long exactly) Lucy has been suffering from depression. We started to realise towards the end of year 8 (she is about to finish year 10 now) when my dad found photos she had taken of her self harming. I only found out about this a couple of months later when they told me, but around the same time I noticed some self harm. I was younger at the time and didn't realise what they were. Since then some progress has been made, but not a lot. She started at a new school which was great in the beginning. She got to make some new friends which she really enjoyed. However, she has recently been distressed as her new school is very academically focused and puts a lot of pressure on her. She is not coping well in this situation, and considering the fact that two of her best friends are leaving this school, she has decided to return to her old school. The main issue there was the "bitchiness" that often occurs in years 8/9 (I went to the same school so I know what goes on) so hopefully now that she is going into year 11, things will be better. However, I am still worried about her. She constantly lies to my parents about things like drinking and is always moody and angry. This is really upsetting my mum in particular. I don't know how to help her. She is a stay at home mum so she deals with my sister a lot. She cries a lot and although she tries her best, I can see it getting to her. I feel like my sisters illness is tearing our family apart. Although my dad is very supportive, he works a lot and finds it difficult to confront the issue. Recently, my sister has started seeing a psychiatrist and has started on antidepressant medication. To be honest, I have not seen an improvement and I hope the the psychiatrist will decide to change the dosage or medication. I know I have to do my best to support my family, but it feels hard when I can hear my mum crying in the next room, and every day I wake up hoping my sister hasn't killed herself. I have tried talking to them about it but they shut me out every time. I just don't know how to help them anymore and I am getting more and more worried that my sister will never recover.
Sorry for the lengthy explanation but I really could use some support. Xx Bella
