Snapped Out

CEBU, Philippines - Every 40 seconds, a person kills himself. For suicides to still be taking place at a time when so much is written about staying physically healthy and young somehow sends symptoms that something is unhealthy somewhere. There is an urgent call for responsible media to prevent suicides.

Just like any disease such as cancer where its treacherous nature is in cells, the treacherous nature of suicide is in the mind. Suicide is no respecter of persons. It can devour anybody including men of God and soldiers of Christ. Many soldiers in Christ are driven to commit suicide because even after they are economically, socially and spiritually bruised or wounded, Churches fail to heal them or edify their spirit.

In the Bible, Samson — to whom God endowed great strength and prowess – committed suicide to vindicate himself from the Philistines who took out his eyes. In the New Testament, Judas Iscariot – who was among the disciples of Christ – also committed suicide as the ultimate act of godly repentance and dying to sin. In any case, religion or being a soldier of Christ or ministry worker and disciple of Christ is no guarantee that a person can be stopped from committing suicide.

In a recent report, the World Health Organization said that in the past 45 years, suicide rates increased by 60 percent worldwide. It predicts suicide deaths will hike to 1.5 million by 2020. WHO reported that every year, about one million people die by suicide or about one death every 40 seconds.

WHO said that suicide deaths account for more than half of all violent deaths in the world and that means more than even all deaths from wars and homicides combined. Almost a quarter of suicides are teenagers and young adults aged less than 25. Among young people, suicides outnumber motor vehicle accidents.

The World Health Organization said there are more men than women who commit suicide and more women than men who attempt to commit suicide. The suicide rate among men is almost universally higher than among women, by a ratio of 3.5 to 1.

So alarmed has the World Health Organization been about suicides that it urged world leaders to look beyond traditional economic indicators as gauges of well-being. It suggested that when it comes to well-being, governments must consider mental health and spiritual concerns as important economic indicators.

In Christian churches, spiritual well-being and concerns are addressed through prayer. But the demon of depression which is the number one cause of suicides cannot be underestimated. Many pastors and preachers carry a belief that after they have ministered to their “flock” and “faithful” in prayer, they can withstand the cosmic battle between God and Satan. “Rejoice in affliction” is often quoted from scripture, but then not all psychological and emotional make up can rejoice in affliction. Many wounded soldiers in Christ become casualties of suicide in the cosmic battle between God and Satan because there is no timely, responsive and direct intervention by pastors and preachers to their flock.

By the time a soldier of Christ has snapped out, all that men of God say is that it was the will of God or the will of Satan. In the Old Testament, Job asked for death and would have wanted to commit suicide when he became a pawn between God and Satan. But timely intervention made Job hold on and hang on.

 The World Health Organization said that because depression is the number one cause of suicide, the best therapy is talk therapy. This therapy has been found to be an effective treatment for many people who struggle with thoughts of harming themselves. In any facility, whether in church, school or office, intervention –- be it in psychological, spiritual or emotional — must be available.

There is not a second to spare. Pastors, medicine men, healers, psychologists, sociologists, psychiatrists and government leaders must take possession of mental health in the next 40 seconds before someone snaps and snuffs out his life on his own. ?