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I am currently working on a storygame, called Insecurity Reasons, that is very close to my heart.

Last year, I moved away from the home I've had for basically all of my life. I emailed my friends every day, but one day, my friend stopped writing back. She sent me a very short email, saying she was no longer allowed to use the internet. 2 days later, I received a handwritten letter from her. She explained quite a few things.

She had fallen into depression. She had engaged in cutting. A little voice in her head told her she wasn't good enough, and that if she was skinny like other girls, she would be happier. She developed an eating disorder. She was falling apart. Depression is the erosion of oneself. She was collapsing inside.

Once her mother found out, they went to a therapist. But that wasn't enough. She wrote that letter to me from a hospital bed.

 I was proud of her, because she had gone through all of this, and still found the strength and the reason to put smiley faces in her letters. She made me laugh every time I read them.

But I feel horrible. I think she was depressed when I was there, also. She listened to dark and sad songs, which I called her "funeral songs". She wore some dark clothing. How could I be so oblivious? I was so wrapped up in my tiny little life, that I didn't see what was right in front of me.

I started feeling depressed, too. I almost cut once. But every time I broke down, I told myself I had to be strong for her. I feel so much better now. Reading her letters now, I laugh at every single one. 

She's doing better, too. She's out of the hospital, and can email me again. We both feel good.

So, I'm creating Insecurity Reasons in her name.

Now, I've seen guys saying, "I'm glad I'm a boy. Girls have to put on like 6 pounds of makeup, play dumb, and literally starve themselves to look pretty. "

And that's true. Girls do that. It's for the people around them. They change themselves, well, most of themselves, to fit in. To be accepted as "one of them". It's harsh.

Any ideas for Insecurity Reasons? I want to write this, and I want it to be good. For my best friend.

"It's for the people around them."
More like, it's for me, because what's not?

Not exactly for you... you probably wouldn't care about WHAT they look like. 

Seriously? Having a different taste in fashion and music is something tons of people do; don't blame yourself.

EDIT: Insecurity Reasons is a bad title. It sounds like a fourteen-year-old's Twilight fanfiction.

How? I didn't think anybody could mistake it for something related to Twilight.

And she was just really separated from me. And looking back, I realize that she wasn't that peppy girl who tried to fly on a soccer ball. I thought she was awesome when she tried. But she was just really changed.

I don't know, but personally, I'd never click on a story called Insecurity Reasons. It sounds... angsty.

Angst: "a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity" ... by definition, you're right, but ... is angst itself a bad thing? 

I'm inclined to say that this trope page sums it up well: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wangst

* Teenage angst, also known as the worst thing to happen to writing since BDSM and sparkly vampires.

Ahh. Well, yes, teen angst is (usually) awful, especially when put to paper / webpages--but general angst that happens to happen to teenagers (if not made into "wangst") is fine. I've seen more than one compelling story about a young protagonist that was genuinely tragic--I've also seen many, many more which the world of literature needed like a hole in the head. A hole filled with acid spitting, exploding cobras.

So...a different title?

 

I don't think it's that bad, to be honest ... but then again, I don't think it's that good, either. xD

There's actually an interesting social phenomenon, where girls try to fit in and follow the status quo with each other, while guys choose to compete with each other. While it starts in high school and maybe even earlier with appearances, it continues with girls well into the workplace, where they'll ostracize other girls whose work performance is well above or below their own, or who act differently from them.

You should keep in mind all that stuff girls think they need to do to look pretty isn't for boys, it's for the other girls. Guys rarely give that much of a damn.

"Guys rarely give that much of a damn."

I'm with you for the most part, but I ... can't say I agree that it's rare. I agree that it's more for acceptance than for the sake of attracting a mate, but I've still seen enough guys judging a woman purely based on appearance when it's not even remotely relevant to the subject at hand. Society, even from a very young age, hammers it into your head that pretty = good, ugly = bad, and then gives a very long laundry list as to what is considered "pretty" and what isn't. And that list's content is not purely decided by women.

Good luck with your storygame and your friend. ^-^

Thank you. :-)

DISCLAIMER:  i am going to be brutally honest. Please don't hate me. I'm only doing this to help you create your story. Also, I'm kind of an idiot sometimes.

  First of all, the title is terrible. Even though it gets the point across very well, it is... ...reminiscent of teenage drama. And, even though that is almost exactly what it is, without reading the description, most people would turn away immediately.

  Second, it's not clearly explained why she can't use the internet. Yes, she was in the hospital, but there were still phones or laptops. Maybe I'm just an idiot and it's common knowledge that the mentally disturbed can't use electronics, but either way, please explain.

  Third, you mentioned that you almost cut yourself once, but decided not to in order to "be strong for her." (before I continue, please refer to the disclaimer) I'd like to ask, how could you cutting yourself possibly be beneficial to her situation, or, story-wise, to the story? I'm not asking to make you mad or prove a point. I'm asking so that you understand how it should or shouldn't be used in your story. 

  Fourth, about your statement regarding boys, even though this point isn't exactly helpful. I am a guy, and, maybe I'm in the wrong, but I've never felt that girls really have it worse than guys. Anything that is done negatively to one's self by one's self is completely optional. (okay, I'll admit this last bit did turn into an argument, sorry) Also, I can't really tell why you even brought that up unless it has something to do with why she was depressed.

  Okay, I think I'm done here. This post doesn't seem to me as helpful as I wanted it to be, but my hands are tired.

    —Jack

Phones provided by hospitals are always land-lines and not everyone has a laptop, if she was, indeed, in a regular hospital. As for mental hospitals, it would depend (slightly) on the mental hospital, but I can promise you that not all of them provide an internet signal and none of them provide smart phones. I have also never seen one that provides computers of any kind for any reason.

Whether or not her family could afford to give her one, or would even want to if her condition was blamed on outside sources like internet bullying, is another story, but many facilities dealing with mental problems do prefer to ... have a controlled environment and to monitor what their patients have access to in terms of the outside world.  

  Fair enough.

How about: "The Girl who Cut."