Would You Feel Responsible?

[nageov3t]

A mutual friend asked my best friend (a female) to have a talk with his son. His son (teenager... I think he's 15 or 16) just broke up with his first serious girlfriend, and was feeling pretty depressed. He and my friend talk about stuff, and at the end of the conversation, he seems to be in a better mood and at the time, my friend thinks that she was really able to help him.

Then the next day, the teenager killed himself.

If you were in my friend's position, would you feel somehow responsible?


(worth mentioning: neither she nor I were particularly close to the mutual friend. he was pretty close with her ex-boyfriend / my ex-roommate, which is how we know him, and neither of us were very close with his son. I'm still kind of puzzled as to why he asked her to have a talk with his son).

 

[Zim Hosein]

Would You Feel Responsible?

No

That's rough news though loki8481, my condolences

 

[StageLeft]

Partly yes. A small part, though. Almost certainly the kid would have done it as well, but you never know and never can know if something you said actually made it worse, even though your intent was good.

 

[acemcmac]

that really sucks

 

[Zenmervolt]

Would I think that I was _actually_ responsible? No.

Would I _feel_ responsible? Almost certainly.

ZV

 

[raanemaan]

 

[no0b]

Would I feel a bit responsable, yes but that would just be depression and guilt. But in reality if I did nothing but attempt to improve his state of mind I would not BE responsible while FEELING it alittle.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Would I think that I was _actually_ responsible? No.

Would I _feel_ responsible? Almost certainly.

ZV

Total agreement on that one.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

So long as I did what I could for the best, no. This is assuming that there's been no indication that the teenager had suicidal intentions. If there were, they should've been made known to me, and I would've insisted that they get serious help instead.