MW, I have a friend who suffers from severe depression. Some time ago she gave me her bowed psaltery and one of her dulcimers. I refused to consider them mine. I have taken them as a long term loan. When she conqers the depression with the right combination of chemicals and life style then I will offer them back to her.

Everything said here is on the money. I too suffer from depression and have recently hit the right combination of drugs and have emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon. If your friend can make this same transition she will find there is a lot of life worth living for. I did it with counseling and drugs. It has been a long fight and is not over yet.

Also, remember that you are doing something worthwhile. You are trying and that is more than a little thing. You have done what you can. If she doesn't make it through this crisis you cannot shoulder any of the blame.