Corey's friend survived a suicide attempt, and she has been visiting him in the hospital, where he's been for six weeks.
What do you say to your loved one? What can help? You want to say, to do, everything and anything that might possibly make a difference, but you don't know what that should be.
Corey gives her friend a small daily task that is doable, even when we don't have the energy to do anything. It's smart advice. It's a planted seed that, if nurtured just once a day, will make a difference. That seed may not grow into a magical giant beanstalk, but something will come of it. It may not in itself be a fix, or a cure, but none of us knows where it may lead.
Sometimes the treatment seems too simple.
But I can offer no better suggestion than Corey's.
I'm glad you have chosen to talk about this much-avoided subject of suicide. You and I both know people who have succeeded in committing suicide. Personally, I don't think advice is what a severely depressed person needs, no matter how simple.
ReplyDeleteA listening ear and an open heart--in some cases, may prevent suicide. Giving any advice at all misses the mark because we don't know the landscape of the other person's despair.