A 42-year-old farmer attends because his wife insisted. She left him four months ago and he has been drinking a bottle of wine most nights. He has lost 6 kg, wakes at 4 am, and has stopped going to the football club. He says that until last week he felt hopeless, but he now feels "calm, like a weight has lifted", because he has "made a decision" and everything is "sorted". On gentle questioning he reveals that he has written letters to his children, given his working dog to a neighbour, and knows exactly which paddock and which of his rifles he would use. He does not want treatment and asks you not to tell his wife. He has no psychotic symptoms.
Which one of the following is the most appropriate management?
Keep going — a set of ten like this one, one at a time.
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