Last night I was hanging with my buddy. We were just drinking some beers and shooting the shit, when out of no where he asks, "You know I would never slight you, right?" This came out of left field, but knowing that we were about 3 beers deep, I didn't think too much of it. He and a good friend had just ended their friendship after a series of heated incidents, and I could tell he wanted to make sure that he wanted to get it off his chest that he was not consequently a bad person. Again, a little heavy, but the two of us have been friends for 5 years and have become very close.

After a few moments of silence, He looks to me and asks, "Have you ever considered suicide?" I looked at him with piercing eyes, responding with the classic axioms: "Life has so much to offer," "We're so young, its exciting to see what life has in store for us" and others of that nature. I felt very very uneasy about this, because my I know my friend has suffered from depression for years, is medicated for it, and is a very emotional person. As he continues, he tells me he has considered it a couple of times, most notably when he moved away to a new city, where he went to pursue a new job. The other time was a few days ago, when it became evident that his love interest of a three years has no interest in him. I could tell it was hard for him to get this out; I could see the small fragments of light reflect off the tears creeping down his cheek. Before he smothered his face in his hat, he admitted that his brother had to come to get him from the new city because of his overwhelming thoughts of suicide. 

As a friend I don't know what to do. No one has ever told me something of this gravity. Do I go straight to the authorities? He said he wasn't thinking about it anymore, but I know that if it went through his head those few times, he is absolutely capable of thinking of it again. I just don't want something to happen so great that it pushes him over the edge.
user
Friend who is depressed has considered suicide, but not for a couple of days. All I know is that he
assistant
Last night I was hanging with my buddy. We were just drinking some beers and shooting the shit, when out of no where he asks, "You know I would never slight you, right?" This came out of left field, but knowing that we were about 3 beers deep, I didn't think too much of it. He and a good friend had just ended their friendship after a series of heated incidents, and I could tell he wanted to make sure that he wanted to get it off his chest that he was not consequently a bad person. Again, a little heavy, but the two of us have been friends for 5 years and have become very close.

After a few moments of silence, He looks to me and asks, "Have you ever considered suicide?" I looked at him with piercing eyes, responding with the classic axioms: "Life has so much to offer," "We're so young, its exciting to see what life has in store for us" and others of that nature. I felt very very uneasy about this, because my I know my friend has suffered from depression for years, is medicated for it, and is a very emotional person. As he continues, he tells me he has considered it a couple of times, most notably when he moved away to a new city, where he went to pursue a new job. The other time was a few days ago, when it became evident that his love interest of a three years has no interest in him. I could tell it was hard for him to get this out; I could see the small fragments of light reflect off the tears creeping down his cheek. Before he smothered his face in his hat, he admitted that his brother had to come to get him from the new city because of his overwhelming thoughts of suicide. 

As a friend I don't know what to do. No one has ever told me something of this gravity. Do I go straight to the authorities? He said he wasn't thinking about it anymore, but I know that if it went through his head those few times, he is absolutely capable of thinking of it again. I just don't want something to happen so great that it pushes him over the edge.
user
A troubled friend in need of help after telling me point blank that he has thought about committing suicide on
assistant