the most tragic story ever

[wastedlife20]

My friend started playing tennis at 11 and by the time he was 13 he was number one in his county, he was always the best at sports and at 11 he ditched all other sports as he knew tennis was the best game for him as he was such an individual.

Anyway he was getting better and better , however at 14 something tragic happened.
He was really good looking and was a perfectionist but started getting quite bad acne (not to serious though) ,so he went to the doctor for some meds and he gave him a skin peel cream that dries out the face , anyway after 2 months of using this cream his face started getting really dry put he kept putting it on and eventually his face totally dried out and all the elasticity in his face had gone and therfore he didnt look like the same person, his complexion was noway like it was before as before he was a really really good looking and then he started to get depressed and gave up playing tennis and hardly went out either.
He use to be really populer and outgoing but as soon as he mesed up his face he wasnt the same person.
He is still not ugly but compared to what he use to be he has seriously messed up his face as it loks very thin and sandpapery.

Anyway 4 years later he came back to tennis and started to try to forget about his problems and after 8 months he bacame an amazing player as good as anyone and i mean it , he is a really talented person and incredible athlete he was playing like a pro and could genetate effortles power like nobody else.

he was only playing at the local club with me as my hitting partner, i play to national level and he totally was outclassing me his ball was 100 times more heavier etc and he made it look so easy.

Whilst he reached this level he realised how much he had wasted not only his social life but how good his life would have been if he didnt mess up his face.
I told him it doesnt matter about you face keep playing enter tournaments and in one year he would make it to the top as he is that good.
He didnt listen and said even if he did play on tour it wouldnt be the same, as "i dont have that love of life anymore and people dont treat me the same as before and i dont look as good",and he stopped coming to play and 3 months later he attemted suicuide, he survived but was looked up for a while in care.

Im going to see him next week and i dont know what im going to say i feel so sorry for him he has treally gone through hell but in the back of his mind i want him to play tennis and show people how good he is and im sure he does to but something is stopping him.

This might sound like a made up story but it is true and im not exaggerating on how good he is .
He was the best guy around and its all been wasted.

if he did make the effort and became pro what kind of reaction do you think there would be as he is always saying stuff like that to me.
What would you do if you were him?

 

[Camilio Pascual]

Well, whether your story is made up or not (and I often wonder with first time posters who write an epic) there is something useful to say here. Realize that YOU want him to play tennis. Continuously urging him to do so only reminds him of his perceived failures and can trigger a major depressive episode or another suicide attempt. Knock it off ASAP and be encouraging in any constructive things he says he wants to do. BTW, did he drug himself or use a gun or what? If I were him and used a gun or some other usually effective device, I would probably attempt suicide again. If he took drugs or somehow made sure he'd be stopped before succeeding there is a LOT more hope for him.

 

[Brent Pederson]

Some of the acne drugs, ie acutane, are known to cause depression as a side effect. A teenager from our town was on it and killed himself. If he is on this, make sure he gets some help.

 

[BSousa]

I'm on Rocutan (active component is isotretinoin I think), and while I'm ok, one of the side effects is depression and even suicide in some cases(seriously).

If he is in having these kind of pills (usually last resort, shock therapy anti acne drugs) that may had something to do with his attempt.

As Camilio said, what did he used to try and kill himself? If pills I would say that chances (and note the word chances) are he didn't really want to kill himself. Last Saturday a friend of mine tried the same taking pills when she should easily killed herself using other methods at home. This cases are mostly a cry for help than a real death wish. No idea on how to handle them thou, I tend to look down on these folks so I'm not the right person to talk about it.

About his looks and mentality, well, I can't say much about it. I had very bad acne aswell but never cared what others thought, but I do know some people do (I had a friend that almost refused to leave the house when her face looked more like a construction work place than anything else, but since the shock treatment, she is healthy and fun to be with again.)

There are always new drugs coming up that can help him.

About tennis, if he doesn't want to play, you can't force him, it will only make it worse. Just show him your support on whatever he wants to do, tennis wise or not.

Good luck to you and him...
Bruno

 

[@wright]

The tennis is really not what is imporant. I have a good friend that I had known from about 1st grade, he was on medication for insomnia, which affected him psychologically, and he hanged himself from a balcony in college. It's hard to wonder if you could have done something different to save that person, so just be a friend to him right now, and not a tennis coach. If you can be what keeps him going, he may start to want to play tennis with you again, but for now, like Camilio said, just be encouraging in whatever he does.

 

[Kevin Patrick]

@wright,
what was the name of that 'insomnia medication?' I just want to know so I can avoid it, I have had sleeping probs in the past & taken meds for it.

 

[@wright]

Actually, Kevin, I abbreviated the story, didn't think anyone would care to hear the whole thing. He was on Ambien, which is a sleep aid, but he was feeling groggy all day, so they gave him Paxil to pick him up. That didn't work well either, so then the dr. gave him Effexor. So it may not have been the sleep medication by itself.