[Clara Lou]

I think that you are confusing self-pity with depression. You can "give in" to and "wallow in" self-pity.

[Yeti]

I think that you are confusing self-pity with depression. You can "give in" to and "wallow in" self-pity.

I think you're right, Clara.

You seem to have a healthy approach to this, rational and compassionate.

It occurs to me that much of the nonsense and judgement being bandied around on this thread would actually be APPROPRIATE, for something like a fake suicide attempt contrived for attention, or some passive-aggressive histrionic depression-*acting* to ladle false guilt trips on people.

It's occured to me in the past, that since therapists can only interview survivors of *failed* suicide attempts, it might be easy for some folks to get the wrong ideas about the real deal -- their sample group might be skewed in the direction of ruthless manipulators and whiny adolescents.

[RightOnline]

You make a superb point. How often is self-pity confused with "depression"?

I truly don't mean to come across as some heartless ba**ard here, but surely you see my point and understand the distinctions I am drawing.