What if a person was depressed for years and years and hated their life? Would you be that selfish and let them continue hating their life. I would try to help too but if the help doesn't work I wouldn't be selfish.
Well, I had a friend once that I've known since high school.
She was sort of a close friend I could tell my secrets to and always count on her to know the best solution for my problems.
She always seemed to be so happy and I always thought that her life must be so perfect.
She studied law in my university and I'd always find her chatting with another person, she was never alone.
This friend of mine has gone into a rough time in her life when she got pregnant from one of her one-night affairs, and had to quit the studies and take care of the baby all by herself.
Her mother died a few days after the baby was born and there was no one to support her, so I began visiting her more often and started helping her when I could.
I was surprised to see how strong she was, taking care of a baby all by herself and not showing a sign of weakness through the harsh times she's going through.
She became an inspiration for me.
One evening when I came by her house on my way back home, I decided to come over and say hello, so I climbed the stairs up to her house in the building she was living in.
I found her sitting on one of the stairs near the entrance to her house, crying.
I asked her what happened, I didn't know what to expect really, I think it was the first time I saw her crying.
She looked at me, tears flowing from her eyes, and all she was able to say was "I gave the baby away".
Apparently, she couldn't fulfill the baby's needs any longer, and she had to give her away to the government.
I told her that she could come to my house if she wanted to, didn't know really how to reply to such a thing.
She turned the offer down and smiled for a moment, saying that everything is going to be fine.
I smiled back to her and left.
One night, a few days after the last time I've seen her crying on the stairs, she came by to my house without a notice, she was crying again.
She told me she can't live on anymore and that she couldn't fall asleep because she thought about ending her life.
I tried to calm her down and tell her stuff people usually tell in those situations.
"You're young, you still have got all life in front of you", "You're strong, you'll get over it" etc.
She stayed in my house the same day and later on left back to her house.
I thought by that time that I should take this issue to the authorities and let them take care of her, but I still had the feeling that I could fix it by myself, and that I could do a better work than the authorities would.
I was coming over to her house three times a week for 2 months after that.
As time went on she seemed to be doing better, and it gave me the feeling that I've succeeded, so I gradually started to be seeing her less and less.
About 3 months later, when I haven't seen her for 2 weeks, I thought I'd call to check how she's doing.
Nobody has answered me, so I hanged up and went back to my business.
A day later, the owner of her house (she has rented the house) has found her dead in her unlocked house, after she, apparently, has not payed her rental fee for quite a long time, and didn't answer any of his calls.
She has hanged herself up in her room, leaving a simple note saying that she couldn't take it anymore and that she's sorry.
I couldn't help it but to be shocked when her brother had told me about it, I'd never think that such a strong woman could actually give up on her own life.
I blamed myself for a whole year saying that I should have gone to the authorities when she told me she thinks about comitting suicide, and I still do, to some level, even though it happened over 3 years ago.
I believe that a person that is willing to give up on his own life is not a person in a mental state to be making smart decisions.
The authorities are capable of giving support, perhaps even a 24/7 support, to the person in need.
There is no reason in the world why the authorities wouldn't intervene, even when the person is unwilling, and prevent the person from doing such a stupid and unnecessary thing such as taking his own life away.
