Good afternoon, I am a grateful believer, I struggle with codependency and mental health issues.  I have attempted suicide in my early journey of life, and I am grateful to be on this end of the journey.  I have taken the torch to help CR be a safe place for talking about mental health issues and I am an ambassador for our team.  My name is Scott.

I want to take just a few minutes to shed some light on the idea of suicide, why people walk that long lonely road, and what we can do about it.  There are a few factors that researchers are looking at as leading causes to the uprise in suicide ideology: Trauma, Covid-19, A broken healthcare system, and increased loneliness.  Trauma does not mean an instance where we are overwhelmed by emotion on a single incident,  trauma can be an accumulation of chronic stress.  Depression is one of the more obvious results of stress and trauma based factors.  In an article by the Psychiatric Times they stated “The most impactful life events that are linked to depression and suicide are losses, separations, and humiliations.  Our population has experienced a fair share of those in various proportions and intensity, which contributed to the increasing depression and suicide rates we see right now.  So it is not 2022 being a traumatic year in itself, rather an accumulation of trauma over a period of time that produced such a tragic effect”. 

These final few words speak a lot into our journey, “…rather an accumulation of trauma over a period of time….”  When we think about this it speaks into many people journey of hurts, hang-ups, and habits.   It may not be one incident that drove us into our journey, but rather it was a accumulation of small choices due to our experiences that led us into a bigger problem.  Now through our CR Family we can offer the same opportunity to make positive changes to lead us out of the darkness and back into the arms of the father.  My life verse is found in Jeremiah 30:17 “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion for whom no one cares.”   We as a CR family can help God show his outcasts the love of the father by normalizing mental health issues and opening the discussion of suicide.

The article continued to talk about Covid-19, but I am not going to go there today.  I want to look at the other two elements of a broken healthcare system and loneliness.  The article states “Right now, we are at a point where suicide is seen as a mental health problem.  It is thrown at the mental health care system—the most poorly funded and poorly supported health care specialty…Suicide is a multifaceted problem that has its roots in the social structure; the way that society is trending; the narrow focus that this is only the problem of health care and especially mental health care, which is poorly funded; and the fact that the solutions for individuals in crisis go beyond what health care can provide.”  Many health care facilities have backlogs of patients waiting to see a provider because there is simply not enough funding for mental health professionals.  This leads to people having a reduced hope for finding help and they just continue to try to manage on their own, in their ideas of what might work.  In this thought process it leads to the fourth point of this article “increased loneliness.”  “Social isolation and loneliness are huge risk factors for mental health issues, depression, and suicide specifically.  Promoting social engagement in our communities such as participation in community activities and groups can greatly increase a sense of connection…”  Does this not sound like a good mission for CR in our community?  Mark 4: 18 says “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed..”  When someone is in a mental health crisis they are blind to the love of God, they are captives to their mind, they are oppressed to the stigma our society has placed on mental health.  So let’s have a real conversation with people and proclaim good news to the poor.

A little bit about me, I was a volunteer firefighter/EMT for a local Volunteer Fire Department for 10 years,  I was a CNA for 5 years, and currently I have been certified through my employment as a SafeTalk representative, mental health first responder, and a de-escalation responder for our facility.  I have also completed my  bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in mental health, now preparing my journey to get my master’s degree in counseling with an emphasis in trauma.  I want to talk a minute about the safeTalk program.  This program is a national program to educate people about suicide de-escalation and the reduction of the stigma around it thus  having real and open conversations that surround suicide.  While thinking about suicide may be difficult if not impossible to prevent, preventing thoughts of suicide from moving on to become suicidal actions is achievable.  safeTalk asserts that almost all persons with thoughts of suicide actively invite help and retain within them the desire to live, even if they are no longer in touch with that life force.  To have thoughts about suicide and then turned away from it, can make it clear that one has a choice—even the choice to live life fully.

All forms of help-seeking about suicide need to be encouraged.  A decision to live is far more likely when a person with thoughts of suicide can make it in the company of a helper who is comfortable talking about suicide.  The simple yet profound first approach to any person with thoughts of suicide should be, “let’s talk.”  That message regards the disclosure of thoughts of suicide as a potential “new beginning.”  Persons who inform or teach others about suicide should also be able to sustain open, direct, and honest talk about suicide should a person in attendance be thinking of suicide, have someone close to them who is thinking of suicide, or be struggling with a past suicide.  As much as we wish there was no stigma or taboo associated with mental illness, exclusively linking suicide with mental illness may stigmatize both even further.

We want you to know that you are not alone! There were people before you, even men of God, who struggled with suicidal thoughts. Although there are those in the Old and New Testament that lost their battle with suicide, there are those who have overcome the temptation of committing suicide and have continued living God's plan for their life. Just like how Elijah met with God and Paul had put his hope in God, you too can encounter God and put your hope in Him for a better tomorrow. You are too valuable and too important to have a shortened life.

MYTH BUSTED—SUICIDE IS NOT AN UNFORGIVABLE SIN!!!!! 

You, or loved ones you know, can also overcome suicide and continue to live a beautiful life in God's grace.  While the Bible clearly values life and paints suicide as contrary to God's desire for how we are to steward our lives, it does not explicitly classify suicide as an unforgivable sin. In fact, the concept of an "unforgivable sin" refers specifically to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which indicates a heart persistently resistant to acknowledging God's grace through Christ Jesus.  God does not want you to commit suicide. His purpose is for you to live and to enjoy your life. It is the enemy, Satan, who wants you to be killed. Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Satan is the thief who wants to kill you and destroy the plan God has for your life. Satan is the one who plants the seed of suicide, trying to convince people of hopelessness and doubt so they take their own lives.  When we talk about suicide from a biblical perspective, it reminds us that even though life can be really hard, we can get through it by calling upon God and receiving God's love and grace. God wants us to live happy and meaningful lives, and He promises to protect us from the lies of the enemy. It's also good to know that ministries like Celebrate Recovery are working really hard to create a world without suicide.

We help people who are struggling by giving them support, resources, and hope. We believe that mental health is important and that every life is valuable. This reminds us that we are not alone in our struggles. So, let's remember that life is precious and worth living, no matter what challenges we face.

It is time we quit hiding under the taboo or stigma of mental health and bring it out into the light and have open, transparent conversations about these issues.  Thank you I have given you some resources to keep and read through.  If you have any further questions, concerns, or would like to share some new knowledge with me please reach out and let’s talk.