The Twilight Twenty-Five

thetwilight25 dot com

Prompt: 25. Worthless

Main Character: Edward

Rating: T

Word Count: 498

A/N: as ever, I have my beta, Bigblueboat to thank for polishing this. :)

'Worthless': one of the words Edward had used to describe himself in last session's task.

Such a negative self-image wasn't uncommon amongst men in their twenties, but every case was individual.

Edward's current situation wasn't exactly rosy. He'd been made redundant six months ago and was still out of work. His girlfriend had left him shortly afterwards. But depression was caused by a chemical unbalance in the brain, no matter the circumstances that triggered it. Someone of a different disposition in the same circumstances might not be knocked down so completely.

Today, I was trying to work with Edward to identify the positives in his life. I wanted to underline that he was valued by people around him. He just needed to work through these setbacks.

"Yes, Dr. Swan, my mum and dad care about me … so does my sister. But they're family; they don't count."

"You think that they only appreciate you because you're related? You sound very close. Not every family can say that."

"Hmm, maybe."

"So they think you're a good son, a good brother."

"Yes, I suppose so."

And they'd miss you if you were gone. I didn't say this, but hopefully I was planting the seed in his mind.

"I want you to write down what you think your best qualities are. Perhaps what your family would say about you, if you can't think of any yourself. Take your time."

I picked up a half-finished journal article to read. At first, the sounds of pen on paper were few and far between, but after I'd read a few paragraphs, he seemed to be making some progress.

I put the journal down. "Do you have some listed?"

"Yeah … um … a good listener, maybe. I may have mucked up my life, but I think I'm pretty patient when it comes to hearing Alice's problems." He smiled.

"That's good," I said. "Anything else?"

"Er … " He looked down, shaking his head, as if mentally discounting everything.

"Read what you wrote, even if it seems silly."

"Okay. I was a hard worker. Until I lost my job." He sounded more sad than bitter.

"You lost it because they had to make cuts, not because of anything you'd done, remember. Anything else?"

"I'm kind. I think my family and friends would say that."

"Great. Some very positive attributes. Perhaps you can think of two more for next time? With examples, if you can think of any."

He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. Thank you."

I opened up my diary to make an appointment for next week. However slowly, we were definitely making progress.

"You're doing really well. Take care of yourself, and remember what we discussed about negative thoughts. Try to counter them with an alternative view before they take hold."

"Will do. See you next week." He managed a small smile as he left: something he never would have done a month ago.