Why Do People Commit Suicide?
I. 10% of the people who commit suicide do so for no apparent reason.
II. 25% are classified as mentally unstable.
III. 45% commit suicide on an impulse.
A. During a period of emotional upset.
B. A feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, despair.
C. Loss of self-esteem --- to kill an undesirable part of one's unconscious self.
IV. 25% commit suicide after giving it a lot of consideration and weighing the pros and cons of living and dying.
V. U.S.A. Today (4/2/91) reports that Teens who tried or thought seriously about suicide cited the following reasons:
A. 47% - Family problems,
B. 23% - Depression,
C. 22% - Problems with friends/peer pressure,
D. 33% - Problems with school,
E. 25% - Career,
F. 18% - Growing up.
VI. Seven Basic Reasons why people commit suicide:
A. Depression:
1. Over emphasis on materialism --- which does not satisfy.
2. Inability to cope with life's challenges or personal problems.
3. Guilt because of sin.
4. Long term illness / relief of pain.
B. Bitterness:
1. Unforgiving spirit.
2. Unresolved hurts.
C. Insecurity:
1. Identity crisis.
2. Family breakdown.
D. Rejection:
1. Results of failure / defeat / disobedience.
2. Hopelessness.
3. Never able to satisfy.
E. Rebellion:
1. Problem dealing with authority.
2. Pride --- self is own authority.
3. Assertion of self --- desire to be # 1.
F. Impulse:
1. Copy Cat / Cluster suicides.
2. Misplaced loyalty.
3. Confusion.
G. Revenge:
1. Dying for a cause.
2. To "get back at" someone.
3. Their desire to hurt is stronger than the desire to live.
VII. It is also undeniably true that Rock Music, The Ouija Board, Dungeons & Dragons, and other such activities have led to suicide by our youth.
(( However, these subjects will not be covered in this message at this time. ))
VIII. Doman Lum reports in his book "Responding To Suicideal Crisis"
Suicidologists have characterized the suicidal person as a "dependent-dissatisfied" individual who continually demands, complains, insists, and controls, who is inflexible and lacks adaptability; who succeeds in alienating others with his demands, who needs reassurance of self-worth in order to maintain his feelings of self-esteem; who eventually sets himself up for rejection, and who is an infantile personality who expects others to make decisions and perform for him.
IX. What about MOVIES & TV SHOWS about teen suicide?
Movies and television shows about teen-age suicide which purport to caution children against it may actually have the opposite effect, according to the first systematic analysis of the subject.
Dr. Daniel Castellanos, a psychiatrist at the University of Miami, announced preliminary findings of his study at Columbia University. With a grant from the American Suicide Foundation, his researchers studied four made-for-television movies about teen suicide: SURVIVING, SILENCE OF THE HEART, HEAR ME CRY and DESPERATE EXIT.
"Teen-agers (in the movies) who succeeded at killing themselves were portrayed as stronger, more likable people than those who attempted suicide but lived." said Castellanos. "In one movie, the boy who killed himself was the football quarterback, was rich,had a girlfriend and his own car. But another boy who attempted suicide was portrayed as a nerd, a loner, someone without friends."
The researchers found eight specific dangers inherent in the movies:
1. They showed detailed descriptions of how to commit suicide.
2. Those who commit suicide are often role models.
3. The programs ignore harmful consequences of suicide attempts: disfigurement, paralysis, brain damage, etc.
4. Oversimplified or trivial events are often shown to trigger suicide attempts.
5. The shows don't indicate that many or most teens are troubled and unhappy.
6. Suicide is portrayed as a way of becoming famous or of "getting even."
7. Effective treatments are not shown.
8. The emphasis is on blaming others for suicides.
X. Many Biblical Characters Got Discouraged And Prayed To Die:
A. MOSES --- Numbers 11:15, "And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness."
1. Moses was a mighty man of God --- but he was just a man --- subject to hurts like all of us ...
2. Moses had seen the height of victory with his own eyes --- but then things turned sour ...
3. That was when the STRESS which normally accompanies responsibility became DISTRESS --- and Moses became despondent.
4. Numbers 11:14, "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because [it is] too heavy for me."
B. JONAH --- Jonah 4:3, "Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for [it is] better for me to die than to live."
(( Jonah's problem was an unforgiving heart and a vindictive spirit. ))
C. ELIJAH --- I Kings 19:4, "But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I [am] not better than my fathers."
1. Elijah has such a relationship with God that he could pray and rain would stop --- and start.
2. His power was without challenge --- as he proved on Mt. Carmal.
3. Elijah had just seen one of the greatest victories recorded in the Bible.
D. The KEY --- for these great men of God --- to be able to work through their individual crisis was:
1. They did NOT take control of their own lives.
2. True, they did not want to live --- but they literally placed their lives in God's hands.
E. The STEPS to a suicide mentality (despondency) and back are:
1. Physical exhaustion,
2. Emotional confusion,
3. Spiritual annihilation,
4. Suicide mentality,
5. Physical rest,
6. Emotionally strengthen,
7. Spiritual renewal.
F. Remember, God always has a purpose for pain.
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