Natasha,
Being 15 is dreadful enough to make a girl want to cry. There are so many things that go along with being a teenager... self esteem, friendships, boyfriends, lack of boyfriends, hormones, school, and the list goes on and on. Its a tough age. You've got one foot in childhood and one foot in adulthood. How confusing!
But the good news is, we all go through tough times, emotional times when we feel no one is there for us..I mean really really there for us. Thats when we have to be our own best friend and pull out some good coping skills to get us through.
I'm glad to hear you have friends. But sometimes you can't call friends every time you feel sad. Some days that would mean calling them 5 times a day, right? So here's what you do. You try these other things to help get you through. Some days some of these will work. And some days you have to keep going down the list til you find something that works for you.
Us adults have to use these very same coping skills some days. I found them by reading lots of books on stress and depression and anxiety. And I teach them to teenagers and adults. I hope it helps.
1. exercise.... go take a walk or play a game outside. or go work out if you have exercise stuff in the house.
2. go find someone to help. It could be an old neighbor, friend, or even helping your parents clean out the garage or bake cookies for someone sick at church, etc.
3. listen to music.. upbeat music, not anything that depresses you.
4. watch a movie. I just love "The Holiday" and other chick flicks.
5. write. you could write on here, or in a journal. you could write poems or songs about how you feel. If you write out your feelings, you dont have to carry them around in your head anymore.
6. get out of the house. Go somewhere. walk to the park or ask a friend if you can come over. or call up grandma and see if you can go over there. or go to the store just to look around. You dont have to buy anything, just look and watch people. But change of scenery does wonders, so get out of the house once in awhile.
7. plan a weekly family game night. organize it, make a calendar and plan which game you will play each week (every Friday night etc).
8. read a book. this ones my favorite. it helps one escape whatever is going on, for just a little while.
If you have any more suggestions, please add to them here. Let me know which ones worked for you!
lauren