Just wondering if people here see depression as something that 'happens' to you I.e. external forces or if it is part of you i.e. genetic or chemical and what treatments or personal actions are able to control, if not cure, such conditions

Even this short discourse has shown that nearly 50% of people truly do not understand mental illness. many do not completely understand diabetes, heart disease, chrohns, diverticulitis, alzheimers, etc., yet all are understood to be illnesses and that these diseases are brought on through no fault of the sufferers. Even brain tumors, which are known to alter behavior, are understood to be no fault of the sufferer. I so wish society would cease judging people with mental illness and finding them guilty of causing their own pain.

It helps to change the wording from 'commit' suicide to 'choose' suicide. It's not a crime. And depression is not a "disease" either. It's a symptom.

I find this whole self-righteous narrative, which assumes all suicidal people are dysfunctional and incapable of knowing their own mind or of having agency quite condescending.

And non celebrities choose suicide.

It seems the first things cut from the budgets of state and national governments is Mental Health Care and it's the last thing funded.

My brother has tried to commit suicide a number of times, most recently he drove his car into a lamp post at 200kmh. He survived, with nothing but cuts, bruises, and a broken tailbone. His self destructiveness is turned upon anyone who tries to help, to a homicidal degree. Decades of substance abuse have ruined his mind.

Sometimes, I think we have to let people make their own choices. It hurts. It sucks. But they can't get any better until they're ready to turn and face the sun again.

Celebrities are at the top of the list as far as being sensationalized. Drugs mostly and I cannot focus on what they failed to want to take care of. Many people have tried to put me into their sorrowful livers, not to mention my two PH.d brothers who cannot stand each other. Life is not always up and the down side of it has to be taken as carefully as the upside.

That's the way life works. things fade if you aren't the one experiencing it. sad but true, even with close friends . . .

That's the best thing about sites like this, you find friends who care about you. A support system where none existed before. I'm currently going through some stuff right now, as are we all, but my friends here have been the most supportive. A lot of us suffer in silence and silence is the problem. I agree that we should look out for one another, and with fresh eyes too, but we also need to be willing to talk about it first instead of waiting to be asked if we're okay. It's really really tough, I know, but sometimes you have to speak up to get what you need.