I’ll kill myself if you leave me!
It seems like a no-win situation. When someone you’re close to says something like this, it can feel like the world just stopped spinning.
{“When My Partner Threatens Suicide“}
The sobering fact is that regardless of whether we ever truly know the truth behind another’s intentions, when words such as those leave another person’s lips, it’s always a cry for help.
Should’ve stayed? Were there signs I ignored? Can I help you not to hurt anymore?
{“One More Light“}
… and therein lies the problem!
While I desperately hope that his family took the information she relayed dead seriously, “emotional manipulation” or otherwise, I’m thankful she found “the serenity to accept the things she couldn’t change, the courage to change the things she could, and the wisdom to know the difference”.
If you are the parent, grandparent, teacher, or young adult caretaker of any kind, I cannot encourage you enough to take the time to educate and prepare yourself for “times like these“, and even more so, when appropriate, educate the kids in your halo about the warning signs of both suicidality and “manipulation“. Unfortunately, the black hole of mental illness is growing deeper and darker daily. The chances are high that a child may be faced with a situation like this at least once before they’ve reach adulthood and even remotely equipped to handle it alone. Just start that conversation like this:
Human beings can’t be each other’s duct tape, sweet child. So, let’s talk about what do should the day ever come that someone asks you to be theirs.
The Diary Of My Perfection 