not everyone can recieve help unless they are willing to seek it and accept it.....change starts with the individual's openness to change.... sometimes there is no easy way, but if you are close with the other person's family explain to them your decision and what is about to take place, so they could support the family member that could use the break up as an excuse to end the unhappiness that was there all along. Just be prepared to know how to put a positive spin on it for the other party.

Do like the guys who met me in my darkest hour... run for the hills when you learn they're human. Refuse to admit that they might actually just need a friend. Decide your life means more than anybody else's and you don't have time for anyone that needs you to be there for them. In time that person is forced to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and realize you meant nothing to them and they are better off without your sorry butt.

Yeah btw... I'm fine now

That's a tough one, be honest & sensitive

Sensitivity isn't even the most important part...lol, just be honest. I've been the suicidal and depressed person. Just be honest, they can take it better than you think. Its the games people wind up playing with you that make it worse than it should be or even would be. They think you're so fragile that they're going to wreck your world.

Someone who is so depressed that they are thinking about suicide doesn't need a relationship. They need real friends and possibly a good doctor.

Well..seems like i'm going to have some pretty mixed support here....

Been there, i told him that altho we couldnt be together romantically, that i was still there for him as a friend whenever he needed me, and he did take me up on that. We r still friends now.

Why would you want to? ^_^

Breaking up is a little harsh don't you think? Someone who is suicidal is in serious need of emotional support. What do you think a break up on top of everything else is going to seem?

People with depression need to be reassured that they are loved. I know first hand

My cousin's 25 yr. old son hung himself 10 mths. ago.

After having been married to someone who threatened all kinds of destruction to himself and to me if I ever left... I would have to say in my opinion, you have to do what feels best. You cannot let them take you down with them. You can suggest all kinds of remedies, but in the end, if you need to break free, for your own sanity, and they are still not receptive to the idea as actually happening... you need to still be firm in your decision for yourself. Sure, you will feel bad, but it is better to feel bad for a time then to feel miserable your entire existence because you feel guilt about someone else's well-being. Again, people need to be responsible for their own selves and well-being, and while it is a good friend to be supportive, it is also a good friend to be truthful to one's self.

Exactly, you would break up with them the same as anyone else. You might want to tell someone in their lives, depending on prior relevant behavior (suicidal gestures, attempts, medication compliance, psychiatric hospitalizations, etc).

An MMI is just a dealbreaker for me though. It's too close to my work, I can't deal with MMI's at home and at work. I just can't. In addition to the stress, I might lose objectivity and i hold that sacred.

Oh, and I got the impression the question wasn't to break up with them BECAUSE of the MMI, but rather in general.

Depression is one thing...you can offer emotional support...but once suicidal, it should be handled by a professional only

When i read the OP, i didnt take it as breaking up with someone because of their mental health, and i think u have to be really careful that u dont lead someone on if u feel its not working, u will only make matters worse by prolonging the situation, and the longer u r with them, the harder it is for them when u do come to break up.

U cant stay with a person out of fear or pity, and u r doing them no favors either. My ex had always suffered depression, long before i met him, he was also a self harmer, so i was well aware of his condition when i got together with him, so it was NOT his mental health that broke our relationship. As i say, we can still be there for a person, and still care about them without the complications of being in a relationship.

That I can understand. I just don't get why someone would want to break up with someone just because they are suffering from depression.

But I truly don't think that was the question....

Lee? Help us out here....

Because...after a while, they drag you down...and thats not a good relationship

That can be true. I just can't see myself doing that. For one I usually care too much.And another...I know exactly what that person is feeling. I've thought about killing myself many times in my life.

No one can know what another is feeling, but we can sure try, and relate our experiences andsituations to what we know of their life.

Empathy sometimes hits too close to home, and can be a bad thing for both parties.

That's not depression, that's borderline.