We used to have a woman that attended our sessions, not all the time but fairly regularly. She could be a little irritating in that she would be frequently moving around and disrupting others in the process - nothing more than that, and her flute playing was a welcome addition to the session. Earlier this year she failed to make a planned family meeting and after a few days of searching her car was found in bushland. It was a month after that her body was found, apparently having suicided.

After that we learned that she had long term problems with depression but close friends, family, and even her psychiatrist, didn't recognise the imminent risk.

What can we all learn from this? I'm not sure, but I suppose we should recognise that any person we meet may be dealing with issues we know nothing about. Treat everybody with the friendship and respect that you would hope to receive yourself. It won't always help but it's not likely to harm either.