long distance partner just revealed suicide attempt earlier in the year

Totally shocked but not surprised. It's not expressly my fault but it was the result of a second meetup trip gone very, very wrong. I was pretty messed up mentally by a physical issue no one knew about at the time and struggling heavily; they were not at all able or prepared to handle it and the trip was, smartly cut short.

And so the attempt was in Jan shortly after their return home, and they waited this long to tell me about it because I was struggling with the aforementioned physical issue, a sudden family death, a move, and financial stress, which I'm trying to appreciate, as well as respect their prerogative to never have told me at all.

When we met last summer they were recently suicidal and then in part because of me only a few months later, and I feel fucking horrible and don't know how to process it really, especially with all the other shit I personally have been through that they witnessed, even supported me through in the last few months.

I feel guilty for the reasons I should and don't blame myself for anything I shouldn't. But I'm in love with someone that nearly killed themselves in large part because they thought I wouldn't or couldn't love them and I don't have any freaking idea how to handle that.
Even though we bonded over our suicidal ideations and I knew they had this problem with feeling "unlovable" when the relationship started, this came completely out of left field for me just now. It's eye opening to be at the opposite end of the threat for once [i've dated other suicidal people, just never THIS suicidal], but terrifying and the whole thing is so surreal.

I think my only course of action is to let them move on [obviously not push them away], because I don't know that I can ever be someone that doesn't now conjure that trauma for them? Or stable enough to help them remain stable and vice versa.

Has anyone here successfully navigated a suicide attempt by a loved one that at least felt like it was blamed on you or in part your "fault"?

Obviously if they'd wanted to hurt me with it that way, they'd have done it by telling me a long time ago, unless they were ashamed which is not likely. It's more likely they just didn't want to hurt me or for me to react badly/unpredictably as I very well might have at that time. So I don't think THEY think it's my "fault" any more than I do, we both understand that these things are complicated and deep, but events unfolded, and these are the results, and they are very, very bad.

And I'm more than a little unmoored by all of it, and I feel like I've lost my partner even though I haven't. At least not like I might've. But I think suicide has cost us both this one and that feels just really, really, really, really shit.

Posted Apr 26, 2017, 5:19 PM UTC

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