SUICIDE

[Abigail97]

September is Suicide Prevention Month. Some people might wonder why anyone would want to commit suicide, especially if that person is a Christian. Well, hard fact: the thought of suicide can cross a Christian's mind.
Let me first generalize, then move down to that of Christians.

There was a time in my life—a particular period when I was so mentally exhausted. I had gone for an evangelical outreach with others, and by the time we were rounding up, I was at the end of my holding power. I was still in school at that time.

I didn’t go back to the hostel directly; I went to the open field at a particular place and cried my heart out, I can't really remember if I prayed or not. I was so tired, I practically wanted to pack my things and leave the school, like drop out. I know you might be thinking ahn!ahn! but you wrote that you went for an evangelical outreach, yes my dears, yes, I did.

I’m not completely sure what the challenge was then, but it brought me to that point. I think that was the first time I truly understood why a person could make a decision to commit suicide.
It’s a point where life becomes so difficult that you become self-absorbed. You don’t care about what those you’re leaving behind might have to go through, or sometimes you do care, but you just hope that somehow God would sort out their lives for the better while you’re gone.

Imagine having the thought that God would sort out their lives, but cannot sort out yours. The mental distress you’re going through can mess up your mind to that point.

By God's mercies I'm still here and He helped me scale through that period...

Life happens you know, difficulties come in various forms as well. Sometimes you talk to people, but they still can’t understand the depth of your challenge because of how intense it is.

For Christians, consider the stories of Prophet Elijah and Job. They didn’t commit suicide, but the thought of death crossed their minds. They got that exhausted. A Christian considering suicide is not “less of a Christian,” but rather a hurting person in need of compassion, support, and God’s healing love. Suicide is never God’s will for His children, but sadly, some Christians may still fall into it because of overwhelming struggles.

Here are some possible causes:
1. Emotional Pain and Depression: Severe depression, anxiety, or trauma can make a Christian feel hopeless. If untreated, it can distort thinking and make life feel unbearable.

2. Unresolved Guilt or Shame: A Christian who feels overwhelmed by guilt over sin, past mistakes, or condemnation may wrongly believe God has rejected them, even though God offers forgiveness through Christ (Romans 8:1).

3. Isolation and Loneliness: When believers lack fellowship, encouragement, or support, feelings of being alone can become overwhelming. Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 reminds us that companionship strengthens us.

4. Spiritual Attacks: The devil seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He may whisper lies like, “You’re worthless” or “God doesn’t care.” If a Christian believes those lies instead of God’s truth, it can weaken their will to live.

5. Unbearable Life Pressures: Financial crises, broken relationships, bullying, loss, or chronic illness can push someone into despair. Without hope anchored in God’s promises, these struggles may feel impossible to endure.

6. Lack of Mental Health Care: Sometimes Christians wrongly assume that seeking professional help for mental health shows “weak faith.” Ignoring medical, emotional, and counseling support can worsen conditions like depression, etc., increasing suicide risk.

Dear You,

Seeking medical help does not mean you are crazy, neither does it make you less of a person. See a psychologist or psychiatrist if you have to, based on your peculiar challenge(s). Talk to trusted persons about your struggles, let them pray for you and with you. Draw close to God more than ever, and trust that He can heal you completely and bring you out of that situation. God can, really, He can.

See God's word? His promises as well, confess them till your spirit has no choice but to accept it as its reality.

Finally, take life one day at a time, one step at a time, one prayer at a time, one plan at a time. If life begins to get too overwhelming, pause, rest, listen to godly music, sermons, or watch movies that edify to take your mind off those issues for a while. Above all, keep praying and don’t stop until that situation turns around, because it will!

Don’t die, please. Stay alive
There’s so much God wants to do for you and with you.

How would the world hear your testimony if you give up now?

I’m rooting for you and ultimately, your Heavenly Father is rooting for you as well.

Please… LIVE!

 

[Lynx]

A toothache is a good way to understand it.

A deeply abscessed dental nerve. On a late Friday night. When it's impossible to get so much as a tylenol. That's a good way to begin to understand the feeling of hopelessness that unrelenting, unmitigated pain with no way to make it stop can bring.

I'm not saying that's enough to make a person kill himself. But it's a good way to get a slight idea.

 

[Lynx]

Perspective and experience also play a vital role in this. A person who has never experienced great pain may feel minor pain and feel that same kind of hopelessness.

Conversely somebody who has experienced great pain before will not buckle so quickly before a minor pain.

 

[Texasgal]

People who I knew have done that. They had been through extremely rough times, and then, when they were safe, life got too hard for them to handle.

I remember one guy in particular. We were dropped behind enemy lines, me, him and a third guy. Guy #3 took fire from the ground and was left hanging in his ‘chute dead as a door nail. The other guy was hit too, but got down alive seriously injured. So we had to abort and get out the best way we knew how. Took us four full days to make it back, only on the move in the dark. Now, he was in so much pain that it shouldn’t be possible to be able to walk nor crawl, but he did. Three weeks later he reported back for duty.

Five years after his honorable discharge he chose to do what no enemy ever was capable of doing…

 

[2ndTimeIsTheCharm]

People who I knew have done that. They had been through extremely rough times, and then, when they were safe, life got too hard for them to handle.

I remember one guy in particular. We were dropped behind enemy lines, me, him and a third guy. Guy #3 took fire from the ground and was left hanging in his ‘chute dead as a door nail. The other guy was hit too, but got down alive seriously injured. So we had to abort and get out the best way we knew how. Took us four full days to make it back, only on the move in the dark. Now, he was in so much pain that it shouldn’t be possible to be able to walk nor crawl, but he did. Three weeks later he reported back for duty.

Five years after his honorable discharge he chose to do what no enemy ever was capable of doing…

See that's what bothers me. I worked for various VA Medical Centers and I saw mental trauma. I don't think they are addressing this invisible wound enough and it is just so upsetting that I can't help but cry. The problem is that they don't know how to handle mental trauma and don't put enough research and effort into improving help.

They do have a psychiatric department, but it only focuses on the things that are normally covered - not mental trauma. Right now solders and veterans are treated with medicine and emotional support animals, but they don't really help.

I even know one patient who copes with his PTSD by smoking and I mean copious amounts. He was in my unit for respiratory and cardiologic issues. He smoked so much that all that smoking destroyed his lung capacity. He is ambulatory with a wheelchair because if he walks, he gets exhausted after only a few feet. The thing is, smoking is the only thing keeping him together and so all the nurses assigned to him were told to let him smoke even though he's being treated for having a hard time breathing.

The VA really should focus on this and address it. Otherwise they are not giving the full care solders and vets deserve!

 

[shittim]

Drove a van as a volunteer for a year or so, the Lord brought honored prayer for physical healing that I saw, mental and emotional healing, perhaps as the words He gave to share were taken in and meditated on.
You post brought me to pray once more for them and received His confirmation.
blessings

 

[Karlon]

my testimony on this is this: my twin brother & i, when we were teens, ( 12 to 13 years of age ), thought about killing our parents 3 times but we never did. we made plans too. we also thought about running away but figured if we got caught we get beat up even more! so later on, i thought about suicide a couple of times. my 4 brothers & i endured about the worst upbringing you can imagine. beat up massively. my mother was almost always the reason. if it was God that got me through this, i didn't recognize it because we were raised catholic. anyway, 1 of the positive attributes we have in the family is strong will. probably got it from my dad who was a mike tyson kind of person in the way that if someone needed correction, he was the guy. people were afraid of him. but concomitantly, he was very social & kind. it was mom that ordered the beatings. once, at work when it was required lawfully, for officers to be voted in, there was no voting & they made my dad union president because they were afraid of him. back to the story, as i became older & developed my mind, my strong will took over to live, work & be the best i could be. but twice on the day i was going to end everything, God rescued me!!!!! praise the Lord Jesus!!!!!!! Amen!!!!!!

 

[shittim]

Thank you and blessings to you and yours, brother.

 

[shittim]

Drove a van as a volunteer for a year or so, the Lord brought honored prayer for physical healing that I saw, mental and emotional healing, perhaps as the words He gave to share were taken in and meditated on.
You post brought me to pray once more for them and received His confirmation.
blessings

Alert, syntax error? should have left out the first "Brought"

 

[2ndTimeIsTheCharm]

my testimony on this is this: my twin brother & i, when we were teens, ( 12 to 13 years of age ), thought about killing our parents 3 times but we never did. we made plans too. we also thought about running away but figured if we got caught we get beat up even more! so later on, i thought about suicide a couple of times. my 4 brothers & i endured about the worst upbringing you can imagine. beat up massively. my mother was almost always the reason. if it was God that got me through this, i didn't recognize it because we were raised catholic. anyway, 1 of the positive attributes we have in the family is strong will. probably got it from my dad who was a mike tyson kind of person in the way that if someone needed correction, he was the guy. people were afraid of him. but concomitantly, he was very social & kind. it was mom that ordered the beatings. once, at work when it was required lawfully, for officers to be voted in, there was no voting & they made my dad union president because they were afraid of him. back to the story, as i became older & developed my mind, my strong will took over to live, work & be the best i could be. but twice on the day i was going to end everything, God rescued me!!!!! praise the Lord Jesus!!!!!!! Amen!!!!!!

Wow, you're a TWIN!

Yeah I know, not the point of your post but a "wow" anyway!

 

[Texasgal]

See that's what bothers me. I worked for various VA Medical Centers and I saw mental trauma. I don't think they are addressing this invisible wound enough and it is just so upsetting that I can't help but cry. The problem is that they don't know how to handle mental trauma and don't put enough research and effort into improving help.

They do have a psychiatric department, but it only focuses on the things that are normally covered - not mental trauma. Right now solders and veterans are treated with medicine and emotional support animals, but they don't really help.

I even know one patient who copes with his PTSD by smoking and I mean copious amounts. He was in my unit for respiratory and cardiologic issues. He smoked so much that all that smoking destroyed his lung capacity. He is ambulatory with a wheelchair because if he walks, he gets exhausted after only a few feet. The thing is, smoking is the only thing keeping him together and so all the nurses assigned to him were told to let him smoke even though he's being treated for having a hard time breathing.

The VA really should focus on this and address it. Otherwise they are not giving the full care solders and vets deserve!

That’s the sad truth. Mental trauma is not being dealt with at all. Many of the people suffering from it are also hiding it from others so it’s often difficult to detect.

 

[Carlyw]

That’s the sad truth. Mental trauma is not being dealt with at all. Many of the people suffering from it are also hiding it from others so it’s often difficult to detect.

Very true, sadly. Mental illness tends to be pretty stigmatized amongst Church congregations. The pastors I've met tend to be more helpful, but not by much.

 

[Karlon]

Wow, you're a TWIN!

Yeah I know, not the point of your post but a "wow" anyway!

yes, a twin, he kicked me out! you know what that means! hahahah!

 

[seoulsearch]

That’s the sad truth. Mental trauma is not being dealt with at all. Many of the people suffering from it are also hiding it from others so it’s often difficult to detect.

And even if it IS detected or brought to light, I'm greatly discouraged that the only "answers" anyone seems to have is medication, which we all know brings on an entire host of other problems.

Now I am NOT in any way trying to cut down or criticize anyone who is helped by meds -- I think it's wonderful for those that it actually helps -- but I'm always let down by the fact that meds are so often seen as the ONLY answer.

But what else is there? Miracles are wonderful when/if they happen.

But for many good Christians I've known, all the praying/counseling/worshipping/going to church in the world has not helped.

I know God heals.

But we never know how many will receive it here -- or in the next life.

 

[Karlon]

Very true, sadly. Mental illness tends to be pretty stigmatized amongst Church congregations. The pastors I've met tend to be more helpful, but not by much.

speaking of that, i wish was attending a church. but churches around here aer lame & plain. i'd rather listen to Jeffress, Rogers, Uceff, Macarther, Stanley, Smith or Begg. there are others. going to exercise now Carlyw.

 

[Karlon]

Wow, you're a TWIN!

Yeah I know, not the point of your post but a "wow" anyway!

remember the movie, "twins"? my brother was arnold & i was danny. no, not short, we'e both about 5' 11" but he was the one who got everything thru luck which there was a lot going his way, got all the pretty girls, good things & so forth. with me, it took me to climb mount everest just to get a bite of a sandwich!!!

 

[Carlyw]

speaking of that, i wish was attending a church. but churches around here aer lame & plain. i'd rather listen to Jeffress, Rogers, Uceff, Macarther, Stanley, Smith or Begg. there are others. going to exercise now Carlyw.

The Bible would encourage you to go to church, not for you completely, and not only for learning. Fellowship in person is beyond important. I dont go way too often as I have horrible social anxiety, but I try to make it at least twice a month I understand it can be hard.

 

[Prycejosh1987]

I believe that faith can help us overcome doubts and fears.

 

[Karlon]

I believe that faith can help us overcome doubts and fears.

totally, & Jesus taught us how!