*anonymous to preserve the teens privacy. Please use the contact organizer button for private response to questions.

She remembers being 8 years old when her daddy started slipping away. For the next 5 years, she silently stood on the sideline while her father’s psychotic episodes spun out of control, taking her families lives over by his multiple addictions, unstable and irrational behavior. He went missing for days at a time, stopped providing, argued with her, took money/food, missed holidays, birthdays, and everything in between. Her childhood stopped so she could entertain the parent-child role reversal. There was nothing she could do but watch through her young eyes as her father dissolved in front of her and childhood memories became overlayed with nightmares that she wished weren't real life.

Her dad eventually went into treatment. This little girl and her brothers lived without their father while he spent half a year in an out of state facility. Unfortunately, the program was designed for profit and return clients, not success stories. Three months after their reunion, he furiously relapsed, returning to previous damaging behavior and destructive ways. There was nothing a little girl could say or do to stop her family from falling apart. She lived in disbelief; losing her appetite, unable to sleep, riding a rollercoaster of emotions, and living in a home that quickly became the most uncomfortable place to be.

She internally panicked, in disbelief that this was happening again. She soon learned her mother saw no other choice than to have her dad legally removed from the home to protect what they had left and rebuild their lives safely while he was gone.

This sweet girl convinced herself her father would seek help and come back. They were best friends, she was daddy’s little girl, they had a bond you'd read about in a fairy tale book. She began her journey through the grief process, only she was grieving a living person. Her sadness turned to denial to anger, to bargaining which led to depression - and that's where she got stuck.

She waited for him, unable to grasp the idea that he wouldn't ever come back. Days turned into weeks; months turned into a year. Not a card, letter, flower, gift, or knock on the door to show her he knew she existed. Her internal struggle grew while she cleverly covered it to prevent others from knowing her suffering.

She was quick to help, to make someone’s task easier, their struggles lighter. She was the first to volunteer and the last to stay when there was work to be done. She offered hugs to someone feeling down and smiles to lift spirits. It hurt her heart to see others upset. The entire time hiding the inner turmoil she was experiencing herself, protecting everyone else from learning how deeply she was feeling raw and torn apart.

Time did not heal her broken heart or the feeling of being left behind by her absent father. The overwhelm took over and her silent struggles became more than she could deal with. She sought ways to numb her feelings of unworthiness, abandonment, and embarrassment. Eventually she tired of the efforts and wished for it all to end. Landing her in a partial hospitalization program to keep her safe.

As a young girl living in a world that still maintains stigma regarding mental health, I will leave the details for her to one day share. This is her story to tell, when she’s ready. My obligation is to ensure this sweet innocent soul be saved from the unfortunate circumstance she did not deserve. Her mother is an only parent who refuses for her daughter to be lost in the broken mental health system. There is no help or support from the absent father. The program the young girl needs to uproot her traumas and allow her to heal are out of pocket and expensive, with no cap on the final cost as treatment duration cannot be predicted at the starting point.

Until the paradigm shifts, this is the immediate situation that this family faces once again - except this time, for a child who had no say or doing in her terrible situation. Donations and prayers are appreciated, as this family has not had time to recover from the financial ruin they experienced from the girl's father's illness and addictions.

This wonderful child is set to be transferred to a holistic treatment program to help rise from her ashes and realize she is worthy of life and can once again find the will to have another day.

Urgent Help for Young Girl

By Ending Stigmas

Urgent Help for Young Girl

Life Saving Treatment Needed

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