Depression

This Blog Post was originally published on the platform "writelier" (formerly "co-writers" and "200wordsaday"). Sadly the blogging platform was discontinued. I downloaded all my blog posts and prepared them to be republish them here.

Another nightshift over, another story to tell. Sadly.

Yesterday night was pretty packed night, we drove from one case to another. Of course, mental diseases are never far away.

We were called to a girl in her late teenage years not far from our home base. We had some issues finding her, as the place wasn't quite signposted and there was no one waiting.

Our case notification read as follows (of course altered, but contextually correct):

"Girl, AGE, severe menstrual/abdominal pain. Dropped off her psychiatric meds yesterday. Caller on site."

We weren't thinking much about the notification. We drove there without blue lights or sirens. My fellow paramedic was joking about her potential mental state.

Joking is a "side effect" of paramedic being. You need to joke about serious things or you won't be able to cope with the pressure.

Our minds changed immediately as we approached her. Red, swollen eyes and a look on her face I can't even describe. I've seen a lot of pain-faces, but this one was new.

Her eyes told a story nobody knows. She was standing in the middle of a hallway and to of (probably) her friends were supporting her.

We asked what happened, and really quietly she told us about her abdominal pain. We quickly took care of here and went to our car as fast as possible.

I think if we would let her stand on her own she would have broken down immediately. I don't think the abdominal pain was that bad, the fact that she dropped off her depression meds was way worse.

Such a young girl, with such pain. Probably a face I will never forget again.