Are you feeling hopeless?

Words : Sirohmi Gunesekera
(Teacher, Attorney-at-Law and Researcher into Human Relations & The Family Unit)

Praveen tossed and turned in his bed.  He couldn’t sleep and the night stretched before him. He had broken up with his girlfriend but that was months ago.  He had also lost his job and now he had no reason to get up in the morning. How many Praveens do you know who are feeling hopeless and have nothing to live for? Well, I have news for you.  
“Sumithrayo” is an organization run by volunteers to help those in distress.  
A volunteer shared with me that the organization gives emotional support on a confidential basis and the befriending is non-judgemental.  You can trust the volunteers who listen  to you on an anonymous basis. You can share with the volunteers even intimate problems you cannot tell your family or best friend. The volunteers have been given a training on empathizing and getting to understand family problems or loneliness. Life is complex and by the time you reach adulthood you would already have faced many problems.
Why wait till then?  Teenagers also have their fair share of problems and there are some boys and girls who attempt suicide as a way out. Exam tensions are also common among even children and teenagers.  If you happen to fail an exam you may feel hopeless especially if your family does not support you. Sri Lanka has a very high rate of suicide while many more attempt suicide which goes unrecorded. However,  there are many people in the world who feel hopeless but don’t try to kill themselves.  There are many who feel  hopeless but live on from day to day and even year to year till old age or death takes them away.

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