Sorry for the very, very non-light topic.

I've gotten suicidal-sounding texts from a loved one on two occasions in the last year. I've gone to their house in the middle of the night to make sure they didn't do something irreversibly regrettable and try and talk them back to earth. So far, I've pulled it off, but what if I'm out of town or misread the signs or they don't text me?

I'm struggling with what I can do to help and keep them from falling back into that dark a place again. I know the obvious answer is get them into counseling, but they are adamantly against that. I have a guess they have some archaic stereotypes in their head that therapy is only for mentally weak people. The pushback I get on that suggestion isn't gentle.

It scares the bejesus out of me and I feel wholly unqualified to navigate a situation like this when the stakes are so high.