Is there an 'end of the road'?

[squirralthetime]

In physical health, it's acknowledged when people are terminally ill and standard medicine to prolong life is no longer useful.

Is there an equivalent in mental health? Is there a time when we must stop intervening and let the person choose their own path?

I know someone who has been confiding in me for some time. They are bright and responsible and a classic 'if you didn't know about the problem you wouldn't think there was one'. But I know they have been depressed for years. Bouts of medication and or therapy smooth things over for a while. but it always returns to rock bottom.

When have I done enough? They know safe spaces and help lines and self-referral and GPs and psychs and crisis teams and therapy and medication.

When is it time to step back? When is it terminal?

You should step back before it starts affecting your own wellbeing.

People with such mental health problems need professional help.

You raise a really interesting point. However I think the difference is that a terminal illness will kill you, no matter what treatment you have.

A mental illness (say depression) doesn't have to be terminal. If you respond to a medication and therapy, you can treat it so it doesn't reach that critical point. Most people with depression don't die of suicide.