The author discusses the notion of courage in relation to suicide. He argues there is something in most people that enables them to carry on in the face of devastation, but that this is lacking/lost in people who complete suicide. He indicates that the job of a good psychiatrist is to keep a patient’s courage alive in difficult circumstances. He also discusses the loss of traditional therapeutic techniques as a result of new technologies, & questions whether antidepressant drugs should be understood as effective treatment of depression. (1 ref)