What is Support?

What is support? – My story

What is support? And where does it come from? The English dictionary states that support is to bear all or part of the weight, or to give assistance to another. However, I believe that support is much more than a few insignificant words.  It is friendship, community, family and overall love for each another. Support can come in all shapes and forms: a hug from a friend, an encouraging word from a teacher, help with homework from your parents, some helpful advice from your siblings, it all helps you overcome challenges in your everyday life. Yet, when the struggles threaten your wellbeing or your family’s, support is crucial. Disease, cancer, stress, mental illnesses, debt, natural disasters and so on batter each and every one of us throughout our lives.

And I would know first-hand what it feels like. Around Christmas last year, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was and still is a fit, healthy woman who does not smoke, drink or have any relatives who had breast cancer. My mother was as far away from having breast cancer as you can get. At first, I was angry and frustrated. Women like my mother do not get breast cancer, she statistically had the lowest risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia. But, even though I would love to magically “fix” my mother it is simply impossible. As the tumours were quite large and had a high risk of spreading, my mother went straight into surgery to have her left breast removed just a week and a half after the diagnosis. For the next months, my mother went through many bouts of chemotherapy, radiation treatment and hormone therapy along with the effects of losing her hair, her strength, her energy and so much more.

Through all this, I felt that I had to be strong for my siblings, for my father and for myself. I tried to become the rock I needed, to hold onto my own struggles and to overcome them by myself. Eventually I cracked. I was so physically and mentally drained that my grades dropped, I stopped talking to my friends, my self-esteem plummeted and I had had enough. Throughout all my life I have had many people to turn to for support, however in this time I didn’t want to burden others with my so-called whining and therefore I didn’t ask for help when I really needed it.

Overall the moral of my journey is that you can ask for help and therefore it means that you don’t have to be alone - trust me it is so much harder to work through the pain by yourself rather than with others who care for and support you. If you need support through any of your struggles, the Brigidine community is open. Peer mentors, the wonderful counsellors, your pastoral leaders, your homeroom teachers, your big sisters, your friends, the list goes on are all there for you to lean on. Before I leave, I just want you to think about this: “Sometimes it’s OK if the only thing you did today is breathe.” – Yumi Sakugawa

If you are struggling with something, here are a few websites to visit:

1. Headspace
2. Youth Beyond Blue
3. Teen Mental Health
4. Bite Back
5. Reach Out

Signing off,

Olivia xx