> if someone has lost their motivation to live, that is the fault of the community around them, and it’s the responsibility of society to fix the failures that led to that loss of motivation
Sometimes it's not the community that failed; sometimes the person wanted to die.
My friend Andy Ettelson killed himself by swallowing a bottle of aspirin and pulling a plastic bag over his head. He was sure he wanted to die.
His parents loved him, his friends loved him, and he had a girlfriend who loved him. He had community.
He also was bipolar, and refused to take his meds. He didn't like the side effects.
It was heartbreaking for those around him. When I got the phone call from Alex telling me that Andy had killed himself, he said, "I apologize if I sound so emotionless, but I've been waiting for that phone call from his dad for the last ten years."
We all knew that it was only a matter of time before he killed himself, and short of institutionalizing him against his will there was little we could do.
> He also was bipolar, and refused to take his meds. He didn't like the side effects.
Most psychiatric medicines have horrible side effects. The problem is we don't invest anywhere near enough money into researching how our brain actually functions, what is wired wrong in people with more severe diseases or how to minimize adverse effects. Hell, most of "getting a person on meds" isn't based on science, it's "cycle through medications and dosages and find out what doesn't make the problem worse".
Not to mention getting access to psychologists, psychiatrics and other mental health care is a hellish experience on its own because supply doesn't even come close to demand and insurance to cover for that is an utter PITA even here in Europe.
We as societies fail people with mental health issues immensely. Instead, we waste our best brains on advertising, penis enlargements and iterating on insulin and epi-pens to continuously bleed people and insurances dry.
Sometimes it's not the community that failed; sometimes the person wanted to die.
My friend Andy Ettelson killed himself by swallowing a bottle of aspirin and pulling a plastic bag over his head. He was sure he wanted to die.
His parents loved him, his friends loved him, and he had a girlfriend who loved him. He had community.
He also was bipolar, and refused to take his meds. He didn't like the side effects.
It was heartbreaking for those around him. When I got the phone call from Alex telling me that Andy had killed himself, he said, "I apologize if I sound so emotionless, but I've been waiting for that phone call from his dad for the last ten years."
We all knew that it was only a matter of time before he killed himself, and short of institutionalizing him against his will there was little we could do.