“I found out on my 21st birthday that my dad was leaving my...

“I found out on my 21st birthday that my dad was leaving my mom. At first I was angry with him. It seemed extremely selfish. But when I finally agreed to talk to him, he told me that he’d been depressed for five years. He told me that he’d felt trapped in his life and his marriage. He even told me that one night he drove out to a bridge, thought about killing himself, and only changed his mind at the last minute. Part of me empathizes with him. I never realized he was hiding this depression from us. But at the same time he made choices that really hurt our family. So I’m trying to figure out what blame he deserves. At what point is a person with mental illness still responsible for their choices?”