Do you personally know anyone who's committed suicide?

[Sympthsical]

68. Five people close to me

Three cousins I grew up with who were all around my age at the time. This was in my early twenties. Two of those were after incredibly bad break ups, one of those with issues of drug addiction. The third was straight-up drug addiction.

Two others were gay friends grappling with depression. One late twenties, one mid-thirties. They both came from very conservative families, where relations were tumultuous at best. The one in his 30s was genuinely baffling. He had gotten married and by all account was happy. Less than a year into the marriage, boom. His husband still doesn't understand to this day. He thought they were very happy. But, LGBT people can carry deep wounds well into adulthood, even though everything seems outwardly fine. It's not unusual.

I'm actually working on a master's in psychology at the moment. My current five year plan is to transition into being a therapist. These deaths have had profound influence in shaping my personality. I grappled with clinical depression myself in the past (all better now), and it feels like I've been quietly moving in this direction all my life.

I'm already most of my friends' unofficial therapist, so I figured might as well make money at it.