I have been on both sides of this. It does hurt. A lot. When you're completely broken it means so much more and is so much more difficult when someone you rely on leaves you. I remember wanting nothing more than to be saved. For someone to come along and fix what was wrong with me. It took time before I learned that this was impossible. People can help if you're willing to accept it, but they don't have the level of control over you which would be necessary for them to just make things better. The only one who can do that is you.

Likewise, the only one who can really protect them is them. In a perfect world nobody would ever hurt anybody. But in reality, just as we are hurt by people who give up on us, often people who give up are simply too hurt by us to keep going. I'll be the first to admit that I can be very stressful to people when I'm extremely open about my difficulties. And the people I left were people who were harmful or potentially harmful to my health as well. Remember - your friends are people too.

As for healthcare providers, I think of that in a different light. Imagine if you had a puzzle you were trying to put together. You're good at puzzles, but this particular one stumps you. Every time you make a move that seems right it turns out wrong, or the puzzle throws the piece off and refuses to accept it. Now imagine if this puzzle was a person who was hurting because those pieces weren't together. And that you were charging him money for your services. I don't know about you, but I'd start to feel like a very unethical person if I were charging someone money for something but felt like I was unable to provide a realistic outcome. Something has to change in this scenario. Personally, I'd first reevaluate the patient's goals, but recommending they find someone else might be the best thing for everyone.