So there's this app. It's called Whisper. It's an anonymous confessions app. I was introduced through my sister. I got an account, but not to post. My reason for getting the account was so I could look through the posts and find anybody who was posting about depression/suicide/anything unfortunate. I send them a private message about how it'll get better, how beautiful they are, positive looks on their situations, and just try to make their day. There are two types of replies that I receive. One type, about 60% of replies, is the good type. They say "oh my god you just made my day. thank you" or something of that sort. That's the whole reason I do this. The other 40% of replies is usually them fighting my about how much their life sucks. I change the subject, reassure them that their future is bright, but it doesn't work. They don't give in. I try SO hard to convince them I care. And sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. The thing is, once I start, I can't give up. I can't give up because if I give up on them, they might give up on themselves as well. I have to do everything in my power to make people happy. Or at least be understanding. Listen to them. Basically my question is, should I keep doing this? I want to make a difference. Save a life. Make people smile. That's the reason I was put on this earth and I want to hear that people love themselves. The problem is, it's hard staying up so late trying to convince people I dont even know out of suicide. I mean, it is SO worth it to save a life. But sometimes I just think i shouldn't get involved anymore. What do you think?
You should definitely keep up what you do! We need more people like you in this world. <3 I myself downloaded whisper, because Buzzfeed made a million videos on it, but I soon deleted it because it was just filled with people looking for hookups, and people recycling posts from Tumblr.
I think you're doing a good thing. With the people who keep pushing it and keep insisting they aren't fine that's fine. Some people do that sometimes for attention and sometimes because it just feels that way to them, you can't ever really know for sure one way or the other so it's always best to assume it's the later. What I'd say is that you should just listen. Let them vent about the way everything feels offer advice if you can, but just letting someone get their feelings out into the open is what people are really looking for. Don't let yourself feel like you HAVE to do anything. If you start feeling that way you need to walk away really because it's only going to cause you pain and that's not good.
There's nothing wrong with what you're doing, but there are certainly better mediums for those types of things. From what I understand, posting on Whisper isn't about responses, exactly, it's more about getting things off your chest. However, there are dozens of depression support forums out there, as well as organisations like Samaritans and 7 Cups of Tea where you can volunteer your time to just listen to people and help them work through their problems. I think you might be better suited to those if you want to make a significant impact on the lives of people who are struggling (not saying that you're not now). However, if you wanted to help at those venues, you would have to be prepared to help with problems of deeper dimension. There's only so much that positive affirmations can do. That said, what you're doing is great, and you shouldn't feel obligated to continue with it if you feel your time is better spent elsewhere
I think you should either find a more effective outlet like what was suggested by Batman, or reduce how much time you spend using that APP. You might be underestimating how emotionally invested you get, and that can really screw up how you're feeling. I appreciate how determined you can be with the people you help, but remember you aren't responsible for their feelings. At the end of the day, they have to make changes to their lives. Life can be a bitch, so people need all the useful "tools/weapons" (sometimes including inspiring words) they can get, in order to keep fighting.