There’s no guarantee that patients whose responses to the screens suggest they might be depressed will accept mental health treatment. The man who told me he occasionally thought about suicide refused psychiatric counseling. I’ve scheduled more frequent appointments to see him, but I can’t force him to comply with that plan, either. After Robin Williams’s death, the late Joan Rivers, whose husband killed himself in 1987, spoke of the anguish and guilt survivors feel about having failed to prevent someone from taking his or her life. Health professionals often share these feelings. The most vigilant doctors, like the most loving families, can’t save everyone intent on suicide, but we need to keep trying. Not long ago, I searched the Internet for that young woman whose essay I read. She was quite talented and I wondered if she had pursued writing after college. Her name was unique and there was no question that the single item that popped up, dated over a year after we met for coffee, was hers: an obituary.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 22:05:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015