Introduction
Hey, I’m Morgan. I’ll be your guide for the next 30 minutes, as I take you through a story where you’ll face one of life’s most challenging situations: helping a friend who’s in distress.
This may sound like a heavy topic, but it’s also really common.
In fact, if you think about people you’ve known, you may realize that you’ve had friends or family members you’ve been worried about in the past—maybe someone who fit one of these descriptions…
- Seemed overly anxious/stressed
- Had been sad/depressed for a long time
- Told you they think about suicide
- Cut or hurt their bodies on purpose
- Had issues around food and eating
- Used alcohol or drugs excessively
These are all signs of distress that are fairly common on high school and college campuses; and I’m not surprised if you have known people like this in your life. That’s why this topic is so important. When our friends feel overwhelmed, sad, or anxious, we are usually the first ones to notice and the first ones they come to when they need to talk.
In this simulation, we’ll talk about:
- How do you know when a friend needs help?
- How do you talk to a friend you’re worried about?
- And where can you and your friend go for help if the situation seems too big to handle on your own?
Here’s how it’ll work. First, you’ll meet some friends here at school and figure out which one is most in distress. Then you’ll learn some really useful conversation skills and see examples of them in a simulated conversation with the friend in distress, to see if you can get them to open up and look for help.
MORGAN: Imagine you have four good friends here at school: Taylor, Anna, Jesse, and Travis. Let’s watch these friends over time and get to know them a little better.
We’ll start at Taylor and Anna’s costume party…
The following stories are told comic book style, with users clicking through a series of images.
PIC 1 -- A comic book style image of the friends dancing at a Halloween costume party
HEADLINE: Taylor and Anna’s Costume Party
PIC 2 -- Taylor, dressed up as a sexy cop, handcuffing a guy who’s dressed up in a full-body pink rabbit costume.
CAPTION: Taylor loves to go out. She’s super social and never has a dull time.
TAYLOR THOUGHT BUBBLE: I can’t help myself. I’ve always had a thing for rabbits!
PIC 3 -- Anna and her girlfriend Margot dancing on the dancefloor. Anna is dressed up as a Roman empress. Margot is a female gladiator.
CAPTION: Taylor’s roommate, Anna, is an archeology major. She and her girlfriend, Margot, want to go backpacking in Italy next summer.
ANNA THOUGHT BUBBLE: My parents don’t even know I’m gay. What are they gonna think about this?
PIC 4 -- Jesse is dressed up as a zombie, drunk, sitting on the sofa, holding a red plastic drink cup, and sadly watching Taylor dance with the bunny.
CAPTION: Jesse has been best friends with Taylor since 8th grade. Tonight he hit the Spooky Punch hard. He’s slurring his words and getting sloppy.
JESSE THOUGHT BUBBLE: How do I tell her I love her?
PIC 5 -- Travis and his girlfriend. He’s an Andy Warhol painting; she’s a cat. Travis is all smiles -- very happy, stylish, slim.
Travis, the art major. Who else would come to a keg party dressed as an Andy Warhol painting? Travis’s long-time, long-distance girlfriend, Tia, is visiting this weekend from her school.
TRAVIS THOUGHT BUBBLE: I want to transfer to an art school near her college. I’m gonna ask her to move in with me!
TIA THOUGHT BUBBLE: God, parties at this school are so lame.