One of my acquaintances wanted to commit suicide. Now they're back in Brazil because of this event. And I was thinking about people who say "reach out for help" and how stupid it is to say that: it's incredibly difficult to reach out for help.

1. You have to be able to recognize that you need help, and you have to be able to communicate that you need help. You're probably unable to do either when you're emotionally flooding.

2. The person who you are telling has to be able to recognize that you need help. Probably most people would just see it as you being mean, or rude, or maybe sad when you need help. To recognize someone needs actual help is one thing, but also the ability to be there for someone in that time is something that requires a lot. Like, you might have a bad day or be dealing with your own issue.

Personal example: Like my mom when I needed help when I was younger she just told me that I was being "problematic".

3. And if that person doesn't get help after asking for it, it just pushes them down even further because they feel like they can't trust anyone.

So yeah, asking for help can work, but it can go seriously bad as well. Reaching out requires taking a massive emotional risk. If that vulnerability is met with confusion, dismissiveness, annoyance, or panic, it validates the person's worst internal narrative: I am a burden, no one understands, and I am entirely on my own. Failing to get help after building up the courage to ask can easily act as a catalyst for deeper hopelessness.