This is my best friend Eve. We have been best friends for a long time now and it's been the absolute best with her. We love to read out loud together and if were lucky our parents would let us have a sleepover together!

"I can't be bothered"

However I've started to notice that sometimes there are moments where when I ask her if we can read together she says "I can't be bothered" which she has never said which made me a bit confused but I didn't think too much of it. I noticed she didn't like to read anymore and when we would read on rare occasions, I realised that she had very sloppy and disorganised speech.

Later that night, our parents let us have a sleepover together. I was so excited when i heard the news, however when I looked over at Eve I noticed that she didn't look as excited as she usually would be.

We watched a movie and ate some popcorn and candy till we both fell asleep. Suddenly, I woke up startled to Eve screaming and breathing heavily. I wasn't sure why she was like this.

So I asked her what was going on, she explained.

"I haven't been able to sleep because I keep experiencing these really scary and weird hallucinations."

I wasn't sure how I could help her so I just gave her hugs until she was tired enough to fall back asleep.

 A week later at school, I wanted to check up on her so I ask her how’s she’s been. Eve explains how hard her days have been recently she says.

 “In the morning I wake up and I don’t feel refreshed, I feel like I’m the cause to every problem and I usually get paralysed with fear that can last up to a few hours”. 

She continues, “My room is always really dark because I never like to open my curtains since I have the fear that people are watching me. Tasks that I used to be able to do so easily like getting out the house has been such a major obstacle for me, it makes me really anxious or at worst I get a panic attack.” Lastly she explains to me how she tries to distract herself from all the voices and paranoia and how detached she feels from reality.