Interesting question. You've made me put off eating dinner to think about this! One one side of the coin I can see where he's coming from. I'm just a man going about my business surviving each day, accumulating money and so on. Eventually I may have children of my own, try and raise them successfully and they'll continue doing the same thing. From a biological perspective it seems both completely pointless but also it's my only reason for existing - to make more of me. So not only do I see where he's coming from, but my life has been great thus far. Sure I'm on anti-depressants but they (along with incredible support) saved me and brought me back to the track I was on before. By and large things are looking mighty fine to me. So how the hell do I convince someone who existence thus far has been awful? I don't think I could. On the other side of the coin, I have developed my own reason for existence and I go about that each day. So my perspective is going to be quite different from him. I feel like this would make things all the more difficult in my quest to keep him alive. Say he was on the ledge of bridge, ready to jump off. I'd stop him if I could, try and talk him down. Hell I'd tackle him off the edge if it was a plausible way of getting him down unharmed. But convince him life is worth living? And that the world isn't as miserable as he believes? I doubt my ability too. He could question why I even bother trying to save him; and I would respond with "I don't want you to die. I would be unhappy if you died". I can say that honestly, and he wouldn't believe me. Also as I'm thinking about this, I realize that bringing myself into the situation does seem to be a bit more ego-centric that some would recommend but fuck it, this guy doesn't care about himself. I have to try every venture before he jumps off. I'll make it about me, I'll make it about his family (though I doubt that would elicit anything positive given his current state), I'll make it about the people having to look for his body when I go and tell people about it. I'd try and make him angry, although that would be very unlikely to work. I'd offer him a beer and a feed at a local pub so we can discuss things - or sit in silence, whatever he prefers. Shit I'll sit in a different booth if that's what he wants. In the end I'm sure he would still jump. Someone going through life like this wouldn't take in anything I'm saying or trying to do. But do I still try? Absolutely. I'm not one to bow down when there's no chance of success.