Hello,

Please don’t dwell on this, you are clearly an extremely empathetic and kind person. In the case of the first girl, you noticed her predicament and checked she was conscious. At the time you lacked the knowledge that she had quite possibly overdosed and, at that point, you were overcome by your fear of the situation. If you were not at all familiar with raves or open/extreme drug-taking, that would be a very uncomfortable situation to find yourself in and your instincts told you to get out of there; in that situation, it is understandable that you wanted to just run away. It is only later, when you know you are completely out of danger, that you think what you could have done.

You don’t deserve the emotional torture and guilt. It is really good that you are aware of the bystander apathy phenomenon and that you are educating yourself about things such as sex trafficking and what to do in other life-and-death emergencies. It is clear that if you encounter this kind of situation in the future, you will know what to do. Having said this, don’t anticipate everything as being a potential case of exploitation. You’ll be in a constant state of anxiety if you are fixated on making amends and are therefore stressing yourself in being highly attentive to every single man or woman you see. However, if you truly feel something is very wrong, then don’t hesitate to take the necessary measures.

Whatever was the outcome of the stories (I am thinking mainly of the first story you told), unfortunately you cannot turn back time. You can only learn lessons and apply them in the present when the chance presents itself. In the meanwhile, you are clearly kind, empathetic and conscious of your actions. The same can’t be said of plenty of people. Good luck, please forgive yourself and find peace with this because you deserve it.