I'm not sure I even have the
right to attempt to help her, but I feel like I should try. This is the first place that came to mind.
This friend is... 30-something old, FtM, living with her parents (who seem to respect her, but aren't the most supportive parents ever). Both of us are in Brazil, São Paulo. She contacted me 3~4 ago... said she wanted to talk later, because at that moment she was feeling crummy from a failed cocktail from last night. I just said ok, still waiting on a reply... hopefully she just went back to sleep, it was 8 AM...
I'm FtM myself, so I get a lot of what she's been through. But her depression is way more severe than mine, she's been like that for... 10+ years now, I think? Traditional depression treatment does nothing, she's been trying many different ones, some with decent results: but even if the results are good, the underlying cause's still there.
I want her to read this thread if she contacts me again. She's fairly open with me... it seems her dysphoria is not actually that bad, and that she feels more that "her body is inadequate to the world", rather than "inadequate to herself". But her biggest problem is her sense of self-worth, she literally doesn't have any. Zero. Nada. As such, she doesn't see a reason to live. This is also because her sense of self-worth is based on how she feels others view her, but who am I to tell her that others can't decide how much she's worth for her? I've never been through what she is, after all.
I've had serious suicidal thoughts myself, but my close family (my mother in particular) is very supportive, and I guess I've been raised well. Whenever I have those thoughts, I know that I'd hurt people dear to me if I went through with them, and I know I'm loved by people who respect and try to understand me. So I can stop myself. But for her, I might be the only one who really cares, and we aren't very close other than knowing a lot about each other.
I'd like to be able to give her the option of calling a lifeline...
http://www.translifeline.org/ in particular appealed to me, since I know she'd abhor calling traditional ones. Her English is native-level - in fact, she barely speaks/reads Portuguese at all - but can she call from all the way over here? Isn't there a way to talk to them through text?
...other than that... any and all feedback from people who've been through the same is highly appreciated.
I just... really hope it doesn't come to the worst.
