In the case presented this morning in a letter published in your Courier, the signatory’s feeling of guilt is “ A sister who suffers » seems completely unjustified to me, and my words would probably exonerate her. This sister was oblivious to her brother’s true feelings when she met him shortly before his suicide because he wanted it that way. His decision had probably already been made and he didn’t want his sister to interfere. That’s what I think about it.
• Also read: Regarding the guilt caused by suicide
You may know what we call it smiling depression, that atypical depression in which the depressed person puts on a brave face to hide their condition. The poor sister was probably the victim of this distraction from her brother.
In my experience, she should stop worrying and torturing herself. There were no symptoms observed nor any signs of impending or imminent danger. The depressed person who makes worrisome comments is less to be feared because they are sending out an SOS and not necessarily wanting to take action.
R. Thivierge, retired doctor
Suicide is such a serious and complex issue that it is important to never get stuck in simple, canned explanations when dealing with the topic.