Helping Others: When Enough Is Enough.
"You can't help a person who won't help themselves."
A well known saying, but I'm curious to see how you all approach it. Is it easy for you to detach yourself from others, regardless as to what your relations are to one another? Perhaps you are one of those who feels a 'duty' to guide others out of their dark spots; but what happens if this person is so far mentally and emotionally gone - do you still follow through in helping them, holding on to some hope for progress, regardless as to whether or not it may hurt you?
Throughout my childhood, I believed that most could change given appropriate discipline and guidance. This may or may not have been a naive thought, but a part of me still wants to believe that it's true. For me, this is more true when it comes to those I am close to on an emotional level, which in turn raises questions: If they are already in a negative emotional state, how would walking away and leaving them to feel as if their entire support system collapsed help them in the long haul? How often do you believe no support helps a person more than some support?
For the sake of clarity, I am mostly speaking on attempts to help those who suffer emotionally themselves - whether it be a mental disorder, addictions, etc. - but don't purposely attempt to inflict pain on others.