Featured Image Credit: Local 12
Topics: Health, Mental Health
Poppy Bilderbeck
Warning: This article contains discussion of depression and suicide which some readers may find distressing.
The parents of a teenager who died by suicide have shared notes from a journal in a bid to raise awareness and help others who are struggling.
On December 14 last year, La Salle High School seniorJonah Habedank passed away as a result of taking his own life.
He left behind a journal, his last entry titled, 'Tell My Story,' and his parents have since shared the extract in a bid to raise important awareness about depression and suicidal thoughts.
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Jonah listed some of the symptoms he began experiencing, warning others to 'catch it before it's too late'.
Included in the list are examples such as feeling 'the need to entertain people' and like 'just being yourself isn't enough for anyone'.
The teen drew on feelings of 'constant burnout' and being 'dog tired no matter how much sleep you get,' feeling 'drained after a day of thinking,' having 'compulsive tendencies'.
He explained he didn't feel 'heard' and felt like no one understood him, ended up 'taking everything out on the people [he] love[d],' isolating himself and drinking alcohol.
Jonah felt 'hopeless' and the world ended up feeling 'dark,' he experienced disassociation and felt 'disconnected' alongside 'numb to any emotion,' unable to 'put on a happy face'.
The teenager documented feeling like he was 'living multiple lives depending on who you are around' and losing 'all interest in doing things you once loved'.
Lacking self esteem and independence, Jonah explained it sometimes felt like he was 'nobody's first option,' and that 'no one respect[ed]' him and 'everyone look[ed] and talk[ed] down' to him and he 'let everyone down'.
However, as his parents have since said, that devastatingly couldn't have been further from the truth.
Jonah previously attempted suicide and ended up going to hospital where he was given medication and started therapy.
While he - in his own words - 'started to get a little better,' the teen notes 'life smacked [him] in the face again' and he ended up 'officially' giving up.
The entry concludes: "This is MY experience. A quitter, failure and coward. Catch it early and find stuff that makes you happy. Stay strong and keep going."
And Jonah's parents have spoken out, telling Local 12 they wish they could tell their son: "You're loved and you're not what you think you are."
"He just didn't see it. He was an incredible person," Jonah's dad added.
Jonah's brother echoed: "The one that sticks out to me the most is the last part in his letter that he wrote. He said that he was a quitter, a failure, and a coward, because if he could see it through anyone else's eyes, he would realize that was just not true."
The family hopes Jonah's final journal entry will raise awareness of symptoms to look out for and are calling for mental health support to be more readily and rapidly available, resolving: "A person who is suicidal does not have time to wait."
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.