I'm responding to Jayne who said that some people have no one to turn to. That's not true. There are groups who deal with depression and suicidal thoughts in just about every city. There are always clergy who will listen and give help where they can. There are social service people who you can turn to. And of course, there is this place to vent your thoughts and feelings and maybe someone intelligent will answer and send that person into the right place. I suffer from depression and take depression meds. I know what it feels like to be depressed. I'm a mother of a mentally handicapped daughter and it gets hard. Luckily I have people to turn to when it gets too much to handle. I pray for Dana Plato and her family and for her son who felt he had no where to turn to. May God take care of them all.

Suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem. People who contemplate and attempt suicide are frequently unable to think logically. Anyone who calls them "selfish" sounds like the type of person who'd also tell them to "just snap out of it". And if they COULD, they probably would. But it's not that simple. Clinical depression often is caused by hormonal imbalance, and that's a MEDICAL problem, not an attitude problem. Some empathy, please!

A selfish act? If there were people who loved them and those who will miss them, a person wouldn't be depressed.

Words mean nothing to a severely depressed person.

Some people can get up out of bed to get the help they desperately need. It is not a selfish act at all.

you have never been depressed have you!!! don't tell people what to do or how to do it if you have never walked i thier shoes...people like you make it so hard for poeple with depression to get help..they feel bad. reading what little you wrote, made me feel bad.next time think twice, then speak

Until you have suffered from depression you have absolutely no clue dingbat!!! Take it from someone who has a family member that has struggled with it!

Do you know how it's like to suffer from depression? you may call it selfish but isn't it selfish for others to say that I have to suffer WITH them?

You must have a very blessed life, if you have never known a person suffering from depression. you should not judge anyone that is up to God and only God. You are the selfish one

There are not enough people who care. Unfortunately, those who care do not have the skills to deal with those who are contemplating suicide. I have been told those who suffered depression are often ignored by their friends, relatives, and even priests and ministers.
Those who under the care of a psychiatrist fare not much better. Most of the time, psychiatrists prescibe pills just to keep them quite.
The whole system of treatment really needs an overhaul.

Not everyone lives in lolly pop land like you do. ALL people do not have someone to love them and ALL people do not have the insight to recognize depression and not ALL people are able to get help. You live in a fantasy land.

In addition, not ALL depression can be improved with treatment and not ALL of it is temporary. Research before you write.

I have been suffering from depression since i was 10 years old. I have attempted suicide 8 times. People can tell you things will getter all they want, but the truth is, they do not live our lives. councilers do listen, but what do they really offer for help other than pills? the fact is.....they go home at the end of the day and forget who you are. They won't remember you when you're gone. Depression makes you feel like you're fading off into nothing and you are powerless to stop it! Please don't condemn us....we didn't ask for this. I was deeply saddened by Danas death myself and i sympathize with her son, because i remember what it was like when my own mother died. I lost my best friend and anchor with her last breath.

Just because you may have people in your life that care about you, doesn't mean that everyone does. Speak for yourself.

Lori, You are clueless.

Suicide is selfish...AND Yes, I have been suicidal. When I look back on it, I can not realize what came over me to want to kill myself and leave my two children with NO FAMILY! I was selfish. I was miserable because I lacked material things. Without medication, I kept reading articles that said, "Depression is self-hate". I realized I was depressed because of some of the poor choices I had made. I am grateful for the grace of God that moved the evil spirit away from me. I still do not have the material things I deemed so important but the depression is lifted.

OH SHUT UP! You know NOTHING about depression until you have been there. Do you really freaking think these people are thinking about the pain they are going to cause when they take there life? I have been depressed, you feel like nobody cares or everyone would be better off without you. Yes you can get help BUT for some that does nothing, I know for me I saw several diffrent people and nothing helped. When depressed you feel like you are in a dark tunnel that is never going to end and you are never going to see the light of day. My mother is currently depressed over her mothers death and she has been dead for 3 years. Some people can actually hide depression , I did for two years. I put on this happy face when i was literally dying inside and just wanted everything to end, 4 years later very few people know about my depression and my parents know nothing about it even though I lived with them while depressed.

I absolutely agree. If marijuana was legalized, there would be more room in our jails for the REAL criminals who are selling the drugs that are taking these peoples lives! Such a sad situation! Two lives that shouldn't have been lost so soon!!!