Individuals have the right to destroy themselves. You may think this is a problem. I don't particularly like it, but that doesn't change the fact.
I've often had people angry at me, believing that my saying you have a right to do something means I believe you should do it. This could be seen as me encouraging someone to harm themselves.
No. I'm not going to tell someone who is considering self-harm that they have a right to harm themselves, even though that's the case.
I face the fact that I don't have the right to control others. I don't have the right to protect people from themselves. I can try to persuade. I can offer alternatives. I might even ridicule that choice if I think that might alter their trajectory. In the end, you probably can't save someone who is determined to take a self-destructive path. The most you might be able to do is to delay it until they grow out of that ideation.
And, if I think it's important enough, I might even do something I have no right to do and physically intervene, hoping they'll forgive me later. But I'll know I was acting outside the lines of what I have a right to do and accept the consequences.
Thank you for reading.
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