Thoughts on Suicide

The recent loss to suicide of the child of a friend has prompted me, particularly as a psychiatrist who works with children and adolescents and their families, to write this piece.

Parents' loss of children is always upsetting. It is unnatural, against the order of things. Parents are supposed to die first. If that loss is due to suicide, the effect is magnified.

Some of the natural responses to such an event are questions such as, what causes suicide and how can we prevent it.

Although some debate this, particularly in the circumstances of terminal illness and late life, most suicide occurs in the context of depression. This risk can be increased if there are other issues present such as substance and alcohol abuse and psychosis. As such, with rates of depression increasing among young people, we can expect the numbers of suicide to increase unless we do more about the background.

One of the myths that still persists is that talking about suicide might bring up the idea and increase the risk of its occurring. This is entirely false. It probably stems from our own discomfort and denial with discussing such a threatening subject. We don't want this to happen so we don't talk about it. We need to talk about it, just as we need to talk about mental illness in general, to decrease these fear-based taboos and stigmas. Inquiring about and counseling against suicide is a regular part of my practice. One thing that I stress with my patients and their parents is that suicide is a symptom of depression. It is the false ideas of the value of life created by depression in one's diseased mind. It is not an impulse to be yielded to. If anything, it tells us that we need to work harder to overcome the depression.

There are many strategies to try and prevent suicide, not the least of which is, of course, to try and prevent and adequately treat depression, psychosis and substance and alcohol abuse. Supporting those who work to promote wellness and combat mental illness in your community is part of this. This could even include contacting your political representatives and government to promote more support for this area. We need more work in this area than we need more jails. There are agencies with websites and suicide prevention numbers to call that every person with depression and their family should always have available. We need to open up the channels of communication about those who suffer with that and their families and caregivers so that they can receive the support they need until they recover to the point that suicidal thinking is no longer an issue. And that, of course, is the other point to stress again, that once the sufferer’s depression begins to resolve, the suicidal thinking will disappear.

Having said that, we need to realize that, as concerning is the prospect of that is, that we will no more be able to prevent every suicide than we can prevent every other type of mishap that we fear. Suicides even happen in mental health wards where people are admitted for closer observation and more intensive treatment.

As Christians, I think most of us are moving beyond the idea where we think of suicide as always a sin. Indeed, it was once considered legally a crime. We know of Christians who have committed suicide. My belief is that in the throes of depression, the person is really not in their right mind when it comes to making a decision about this, and for that I think it helps us to hold on to the belief that our all-merciful and forgiving heavenly Father does not hold that against them.

Of course, when a suicide has occurred, we need to be there to support the family and friends of the lost loved one. They need our presence, our prayers and reassurances for the struggles and questions that such an event raises for all of us.

- NOTE: the above minus about 250 words to meet their editorial limit was published in the April 15, 2013 issue of The Canadian Mennonite.