I've been friends with a guy on Facebook for years, because he's from the same online school as me. He lives in India and I live in the US, so we've never met IRL, but we've messaged each other all the time regardless. He's always been battling issues with depression, low self-esteem, even some alcoholism. Just recently I posted a short film I made that got a lot of attention and success, and I thanked him for helping me for so long, and he said he was really happy for me.

Then this morning, he wrote that he wanted to die, and that nothing's exciting for him anymore. My immediate mental reaction was, "How DARE you pick this time to drag me down with your negativity! It's like you're whining to me like this on purpose so that I can't feel too happy about my success. I am allowed to feel happy and positive right now, without you pooing all over it."

I genuinely thought about responding something like that to him, and that he should really FINALLY see a therapist instead of only confessing things to me, but I eventually decided not to respond at all. I figured his cry for attention to drag me back down to his level didn't deserve a response, and he'd have to go find someone else for help. I was still active on Facebook, though, posting things and liking other people's posts.

Then I go look at my messages again, hours later, and see that he's deleted his Facebook. Now I'm scared. I really hope he doesn't do something stupid and that he can just use this opportunity to take a break from Facebook and maybe find himself again. I know that Facebook can cause people to compare and be less happy than if they weren't.

Now I'm starting to feel guilty that I intentionally ignored him. I messaged a friend of his in Pakistan just in case. I don't know what else to do. I hope he gets help. I can't be entirely responsible for him. I have to life my own life, too.