People do prefer company to being told. I lost my brother to suicide, really messed me up bad. I did some volunteer work on a suicide prevention service, and people really just want a little bit of your time in the immediate sense, and social support structure long term. Most people have this with families, but it can get really bad when that falls apart due to anything negative in that space of their life.

I know the saying is supposed to mean ‘‘you’d rather make other people miserable than work on yourself’’ but in a social sense, company works a lot better than telling someone it’s not working and walking away.