Have you heard of the term “scarred for life?” Well, this term can be interpreted very differently to some people. Scars can be emotional, mental, or physical. I am going to tell you the story of a young girl who was emotionally, mentally, and physically scarred in her life. Her name was Emily. She was 7 years old and living in Arizona. When she was 3 years old, her father sexually abused her multiple times. Emily’s mother was not aware of these occurrences when they happened. Emily was obviously “scarred for life” because of this situation. Her father abused her on a daily basis. Emily’s mother was always at work, working as a nurse in the hospital on the night shift. Emily did not understand, at first, what was happening to her, but by the age of 12 she understood and was frightened by her father. Emily was embarrassed and became very anti-social. Little did her mother know that her husband would abuse their own child? Aside from the physical abuse, Emily’s father would also verbally abuse her. He would make fun of her, call her an “overweight slob,” “slut,” and would continually yell and swear at her. Emily, at times, thought he would yell at her just because he wanted to hear his own voice, which is how often he yelled at her. Emily would lock herself up in her room very often. She would stay in her room crying, for hours, feeling disgusting and worthless.

During the day, none of this even happens since her mother is home. Emily’s father would treat her as if Emily was a princess and his wife was queen. Emily thought of him as the devil. She saw past his fake smile and compliments and saw hatred in his eyes. At the age of 13, she had developed a horrible condition called bulimia nervosa. Bulimia is when you binge, or overeat, your food and you feel extremely guilty after. You then purge, or forcefully vomit, the food to not gain any weight. Emily also hurt herself by either burning or cutting herself. Typically a “normal” person would say all of this is for attention, but that is not the case. It is a voice in your head screaming at you saying that you a monster and then you end up hurting yourself. No, this is not to help feel relief, it is simply becomes a habit that you can no longer end. Once you do it, you will continue to do this because the shock of the pain feels better than dealing with the pain and that voice in your head.

When Emily was 16 years old, she attempted suicide at least 3 times. Emily tried every way she could. She tried overdosing on pills, drowning herself in the bathtub, and slitting her own wrists. All of these were failed suicide attempts, thankfully. Emily has now been in the psychiatric ward for 5 months.

At 18 years old, Emily had lost all hope in her life. None of her group therapy sessions helped. She fell back into her old lifestyle again after being released from the hospital. There were too many memories left in her home that wouldn’t stop relaying in her mind. Later on, Emily died of malnutrition of her bulimia nervosa. Her heart failed, because of the muscle wearing away and was not strong enough to beat anymore.

You probably haven’t noticed, but there are many people around you enduring the same thing. It could even be your best friend. But unfortunately these secrets are kept to themselves. Reach out to everyone in kindness, because you could possibly save their life by showing that you care for them, that you see past all of their troubles they have been going through.

I even have friends that tend to hurt themselves, but it is definitely not for attention. The people who try to get attention are the ones who brag about it. Such as, “I just cut myself last night,” or “I didn’t eat a meal, because I am too fat.” All of these issues are serious and are usually kept secret, which is what makes them dangerous. You probably won’t even find out about it until it’s too late.

Talk to your friends about these things if they start to shy away from society. Lighten their day by talking to them, or even just a smile can help. There is always a person out there that in their head they are crying out, “Help me!” The thing is that this person usually won’t say it out loud. Don’t get caught up in society and call all of these people “freaks” or “attention seekers” because you may not even know their story.