Originally Posted by analog

I'm sorry for your loss, but this is a gross oversimplification of a complex issue. The man was an alcoholic and severely depressed- at least partly so because of the car accident back in July '06 from which he still has not yet fully recovered- he didn't need a hug, he needed a strong support base, therapy, and detox.

It's nice to want to change the world, and it's nice to extend pleasantries to strangers, but there are many cases where a kind word is far from sufficient to bring a person back from the edge like this... and trying to put the blame on anyone other than the person who took their own life won't bring them back, nor will it circumvent the one truth in all suicides: they are a personal choice.