Luca is a junior in high school and his family has moved to a new town in another state. He misses his friends at his old school. Everyone here already has friends. Many of them have been friends since grade school and everyone just looks right past Luca when he walks down the school hall. Luca really doesn’t want to go to school anymore. He’s not eating much, and he feels sad all the time. It’s really hard to get out of bed every day, even on the weekends. He can’t talk to his parents because the move had to happen because of his dad’s job. There really isn’t anything he can do. Things just aren’t fun anymore. Luca remembers when he used to have so much fun. Sometimes he thinks that no one would really miss him if he wasn’t around anymore. Luca was sitting in his health class one day and the teacher was asking some questions which caught his attention:
- Do you feel sad or hopeless much of the time?
- Are you having trouble sleeping or staying awake?
- Do you feel worried or irritated a lot?
- Do you ever feel like you don’t want to live or plan how to die?
- Is it extremely hard for you to concentrate or make decisions?
- Do you often forget things?
As Luca was listening, he started to get concerned. Most of the questions she asked, Luca would respond with a “Yes”. The teacher stressed during the class that every person there was important to her and to others, so please reach out to her or someone else that they trust to talk about their feelings. She also shared the school counselor’s name and office location in case there were any students in the class who hadn’t met them, yet. Luca decided to stop by the counselor’s office on his way to lunch.