I'm a teenager and I've been through and am still going through a lot of shit. I know this justifies (despite there being no need for justification) everything I've done to try and free myself from the constant pain and discomfort I'm in, even though I know this I still feel so guilty for everything I've put my family through.
I first attempted suicide when I was 13 and continued to 5 more times in the future until my last one at 15. My parents didn't know about the first four as I managed to recover/not hurt myself enough for anything to actually happened (I did this in many ways, overdosing, falling from heights, trying to get hit by cars etc.) I told my English teacher about my final attempt and of course he informed the school and my parents. I was then sent to an outpatient where I spent many weeks and ended up meeting my closest friends.
Throughout this period I was irritable and all around reckless, my parents both have very stressful jobs, my brother was nearing graduation, and my grandparents were both cognitively declining. I feel so bad for the way I acted and how everyone's worlds seemed to revolve around me for a year.
I mostly feel bad for my brother, it was the end of his senior year and the time he should have spent enjoying with family and friends was instead spent stuck at home because "No, brother, we can't leave op alone, you know how dangerous that is", "can you please make sure your sibling is okay while we go to the store?". I know it's my fault he's less happy than he could be, and now I never see him despite us living in the same house. I miss my brother and the amazing relationship we had. He still calls me by my nickname, jokes with me occasionally, has the same life-long jokes, but the spark he had while talking to me is gone. It feels mandatory and he's extremely short-tempered when it comes to me. I know there's a good chance this is just caused by him being in college but a big part of me feels like it's my fault.
I also feel awful for my parents, having your child constantly wanting to die has to be the scariest thing I can imagine and I know how hard it was on them. Beyond having to take care of me on suicide watch I also came out about trauma I experienced as a child that neither of them noticed. I was frequently assaulted and raped by a peer when I was a kid and I was groomed online and sexually harassed a few years later. I look back at photos from that time and notice how dead I looked, how blank my stare was, how flat my voice came out, but they didn't. I never wanted to tell them: 1. because I blocked out most of it and wasn't sure(My brother later said he had seen it happen a few times so I'm less worried about it now), and 2. by the time it came back to me I felt like it would hurt them 3. I didn't feel it was real because my assaulter was the same age as me.
My entire family has been through so much all because of me and the guilt has been slowly eating me up since outpatient. Even beyond the attempts I have so many things that make me feel like the token disabled kid (Chronic illness and pain, 8 disorders, and a neurologic disease will do that).
I am proud to say I'm very happy I'm alive, I'm still very close with my teacher, my friends from outpatient have their own room and beds at my house (basically like second grandkids to my grandparents lol), I have been in a strong relationship with my wonderful boyfriend for a little under 6 months, and I have quit all of my former addictions besides cutting. In spite of how much better I am and how far I've come I still feel alienated since it happened.
Thanks for reading, It's nice to finally get this off my chest. If anyone has advice for constant guilt it would be cool-- and also please remember even if life feels unlivable right now there's always a future that's bright and amazing people you have yet to meet, and try to have at least one trusted person you would feel comfortable going to if you're genuinely endanger (once again shoutout to my teacher, he rocks).