I did something like this a long time ago. He didn’t go to jail, but did lose his job.

Why is it so hard on our psyche when we try to do something nice and we fail?

When I fall into this trap the first thing I reach for is perspective. Cold Objective perspective if possible. So, bottom line: OMG some stranger off the internet that I’ve only known for months can be mean to me. Honestly, you have not been a part of his LIFE long enough to ruin it. Also, I’m sure you didn’t tell him anything thing he didn’t know or hadn’t been told by others. You didn’t kill him or his family while drunk driving. You didn’t have sex with his wife, share his secrets to the masses nor did you draw any blood.

Better than that, you shed your indifference and you took a risk and reached out. And then crashed and burned. You tried. YEEAHHH!!! Major points for that. You failed, which is only a minor point loss. You are not a paid and trained psychiatrist, and I’m guessing he knew that, so what is the saying? “You pays your money or you take your chances.”

Forgive yourself. You tried. Now let it go and think about other things or find another person that could use some of that helpful energy. A few hundred positive interactions with people is the only I know that can build back relationship confidence.