Adam, Boston, May 24, 2013 at 8:44 a.m.

It is indeed in human connection where the redemptive force of being well, both emotionally and mentally, can be found.

Psychopharmacology and the solutions and palliatives it offers us do not equate to a sustained existential harmony and purpose even though there is little doubt that there can be and often is a very strong correlation.

It is fundamentally up to each of us to help each other, both when we are down, and when others are down, to regain human connection and thereby regain connection to our own selves.

When we connect authentically to others, we in turn connect authentically to ourselves, our pain, our joy, our confusion, our clarity.

It is in this "self and other" connection wherein the instinct towards and for life is MOST strong and resonant, it is in the absence of human connection, to our selves and to others, where the instinct towards and for death, and the promised permanent relief self-immolation offers, is most powerful.

It is NOT simply a matter of choosing life over death, or life instead of death, it is seeing and feeling and being encouraged, when one is unwell and feels they can't go on as they are, that such a choice exists at all.

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.c...e-durkheim/?src=recg