IJ study archive

the absurdity of the Suicide Contract — "That the well-meaning halfway-house Staff does…"

quote

That the well-meaning halfway-house Staff does not understand Its overriding terror will only make the depressed resident feel more alone.

Context

The halfway house's own machinery examined and found wanting: the Suicide Contract, the well-meaning institutional instrument, is "simply absurd" against a terror that reasserts itself the instant the contract's circumstances return — and the Staff's failure to understand that terror only deepens the resident's isolation. The recovery institution's limits named from inside the depression it can't reach.

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