Behavior Change

Roller Coaster of a Year

Have you ever had to do something so dramatic in your life that it changed your whole personality? These changes in a person's life can alter everything not only in their own life but the lives of the people around them. A change of this magnitude could include just about anything. The change that will be talked about is an abortion that a couple went through. Some people believe abortion is murder to the unborn fetus. An abortion also has its psychological effects on the women going through with it as well. A perfectly happy woman can go in and get an abortion but come out a totally different person. Rayleen was not one of those who were able to go through an abortion very easily. It put her in a depression so deep that it almost tore the couple apart.

The Couple:

Brian, a 25 year old man, worked but barely made money because of child support that is taken out of each pay check. Brian's fiancÐ"©e, Rayleen, a 24 year old college student, worked part-time while sports were in session at school. The couple was very much in love but did not want a long-distant marriage, so they stay engaged until they could be together.

The Missed Period:

Last year in September, Brian and Rayleen spent a weekend together at the university that Rayleen attended. The couple had never been so scared in their life when Rayleen missed her period after the weekend together. Brian finally convinced Rayleen to buy a home pregnancy test to determine whether she was pregnant or not. Rayleen used the test and found that scary positive sign revealed on the stick. Her heart skipped a beat from fright, not from excitement. Rayleen thought she should have been happy and thought that Brian would have been happy. Both of them were more scared that day than any other day they could think of. Rayleen thought that God was playing a cruel joke on them. She contemplated about the couples out in the world who were unable to conceive, yet couples who should not be starting a family were becoming pregnant left and right.

Making the Decision:

The couple sat down and talked on the phone, since they lived far from each other, and as they talked they agreed that this could not have come at a worse time. To their astonishment they agreed to an abortion. It was the hardest decision for either of them to make.

The Abortion:

Rayleen made the arrangements at the local Planned Parenthood. The day of the appointment Brian took off work and drove to Rayleen. Unfortunately Brian had to leave Rayleen the day that she had to take the last of the medications and she was alone when the abortion actually took place. Rayleen and Brian decided that they didn't want to tell anyone about what was happened. Rayleen felt alone and had no one to talk to. Rayleen felt as though she was on a roller coaster of emotions before and mainly after the abortion. After the abortion, Rayleen struggled with whether or not their decision was best. Rayleen had this whole thing to overcome because she felt as though she had committed a murder. To help herself realize that the decision was for the best, she would tell herself that the baby would have been part of a broken family. Rayleen did not want to have a baby but not have Brian with her. She had days where she felt it was the right thing for both her and Brian, even the unborn child.

Seclusion:

Because Rayleen felt secluded from friends and family, she became a person who stayed to herself. Rayleen was a very outgoing type person until her abortion. She did finally tell her best friend about the situation, but no matter what her best friend and Brian said to her, Rayleen still felt empty on the inside and she knew that it was from the abortion. Besides the empty feeling, Rayleen would also have some horrific dreams as she slept. Some nights she would even stay up as late as she could so she would not have those dreams, unfortunately she would still have them. Brian would think about the abortion but it did not affect him as it did Rayleen. Brian was able to keep his mind busier than Rayleen was able to and that helped him not go into a depression state like Rayleen ended up in.

Depression:

Rayleen did not become severely ill, but she did become depressed because even though she would talk to her best friend, she wanted to talk to Brian. He never really wanted to talk about it with her. After the abortion was complete, Rayleen just wanted to talk to Brian about their decision and how she was feeling.

Treating her depression:

Once in a while Rayleen could