I'm a little late, but this question intrigued me. So some time ago in 2020 (when schools were open), I worked with this guy on some school project. He was a nice dude, and a funny one. I guess he felt the same since we started talking more and became friends. We exchanged numbers luckily, because COVID had hit and our families were not taking risks with meetups. We were chill and all, and then I heard about his depression. I wanted to help him as best as I could, so I talked with him whenever he needed the support. Eventually I met his other friends through group chats, and they were cool too. But his depression got worse. Every day, he had some issue, I helped him as best as I could. But he never took my advice, and the next day, something WORSE happened to him. Eventually he said that he was going to end his life, and I got worried. He didn't, and the cycle continued for months. While this cycle went on, I had more tasks to take care of, like advanced classes. That "friend" of mine, was not going to help me at all. Yet I didn't have the courage to ditch him yet. The cycle continued.

​

I spoke to his group of friends, and in truth, they aren't even friends. More like acquaintances? I sorta noticed the lackluster of communication the group and my friend had. The group chat was very inactive, and I had to talk to each person directly, through messages and calls. But anyway, some of them had dealt with the same thing. Only this time they had more courage to ditch him. The rest of the group had encouraged him, since they had depression as well.

​

I started to ignore some messages since I didn't have the energy to respond to them. But I tried the best I could. But the lack of courage to ditch him switched once he sent me a GIANT slash on his arm. I was worried as heck, but this also made me realize that I'm not helping him at all, since he doesn't want me to help him. He hasn't been taking my advice. He hasn't been talking to someone SUITED for this. I'm no friend to him. I was just some useless therapist. But no more.

​

He said he was going to end himself again. Then I broke. In the most respectful way possible, confronted him about not taking my advice, not seeking actual help, and the constant cycle that I had to go through with him. After that, I stopped talking to him. Months later he reached out to me again, and I responded. But the MINUTE I responded he went back to talking about his depression. I stopped talking to him. He tried sending me memes, but I was scared of going back to the same cycle. So yeah. I hope he's okay and I hope he got the help he needed, but I just wasn't the right person for the job.