so embarrassing as to make suicide more likely. Take it from one of the guys
in white coats—it won’t. Regardless of what suicidal people may threaten,
they will not kill themselves to punish you for trying to get them help.
Suicide, suicide threats, and even suicidal ideation are attempts at
solving life problems by running away into death. As we have seen count-
less times before, running away creates more problems than it solves. If
you’re dead, you don’t even get to experience the relief.
Sometimes depression forces people to choose between life and
death. More often, the choice is between doing and waiting for something
to happen.
The What’s the Point? Explosion
“Rachel,” you say, “you’re always talking about wanting a rela-
tionship, but you never do anything to meet men. Why don’t you
try one of those on-line singles chat rooms?
“You mean with all the creeps and weirdos?”
“Well, they’re not all creeps and weirdos. Ellen met Chris
on line, and he’s really nice.”
“Yeah, like somebody normal would be interested in me.”
“Come on, Rache, you’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs before
you find a prince.”
“What’s the point?”Before you answer, wait. You’re about to be sucked into a philo-
sophical black hole. There is no answer to Rachel’s question, because it
ultimately boils down to the great human dilemma: Why live if you’re just
going to die? There is no way you can answer this for another person. You
can only offer a sermon about whatever beliefs keep you going, and
depressed people do not respond to sermons. There’s no way you can talk
them into believing in their ultimate prospects for happiness.
To make matters worse, depressed people are usually right. Many
studies have shown that the depressed are better at predicting the future
than people who have no discernible mental disorder. Normality, as I said
earlier, is actually a state of unreasonable optimism. Most of us shiny,
happy people move toward the joys that life offers, blithely ignoring the
198 ❧Explosions into Sadness