Can you imagine..

[Stan]

Being so destitute and feeling so hopeless that you would be willing to take your own life?

I spent the morning with Carl Wilkins, the former ADRA guy in Rwanda, and that guy can ask questions that get down way past your bones...

[LynnDel]

I have imagined that briefly from time to time (don't panic anyone; it's 0% likely), but never so far as to make any sort of serious plans - because deep down I feel God's presence and I am never so destitute or hopeless as to take that step.

How can we help others to refrain from going that far? How can we help them feel God's presence? One of my dear friends from academy committed suicide this summer. She e-mailed me all the time, messages full of declarations of reliance on God. I never saw it coming.

LynnDel

[cricket]

Yep. I can imagine.

[Naomi]

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Stan Jensen said:

Being so destitute and feeling so hopeless that you would be willing to take your own life?

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Yes, been there done that, more than once. As LD said, don't panic i don't believe I would ever carry it through.

I do believe that it is important that we, as a culture, accept the fact that depression is a common illness and the deep-dark depression which is born from long-term helplessness, feelings of being inadequate, family looser, appearance, etc. can become such a "friend" that a person can logically discuss, in one's mind, ones feelings of destitution and come to the "logical" conclusion that taking your life is the only "sane" solution.

Many people would never take the steps Mr Wilkins took and openly discuss their issues with another. Give him two <img src="/ubbtreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

The reason for keeping a stiff upperlip and not admitting to what is really playing in your head: The belief that people would think you were "crazy" and never "forget" your "insanity"

If it is ever spoken, than you have passed the point of no return and either are forced to follow through, to save face....so-to-speak....or be labeled as someone seeking "attention"

As a whole, we are not a very understanding society; in or out of the Church.

JMO

Naomi

[aldona]

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Stan Jensen said:

Being so destitute and feeling so hopeless that you would be willing to take your own life?

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yep...been there, thought that...as the others said, don't panic, it would never actually happen. (I've been fine for a long time now.)

Those of us with naturally melancholic personalities (myself included) can often have thoughts like that and just kind of explore and ponder them in our minds without necessarily intending to act on them in any way.

But I have had times when I have suffered from real depression and the ideas were much more real.

And I always find it amusing to read the diatribes about rock-&-roll sings about suicide and how they drive teenagers to take their own lives...

As a moody teenager who was brought up to appreciate classical music and never had any rock-&-roll recordings in the house (and no interest in that type of music at all), I certainly found plenty among my favorite classical songs to feed my nihilistic thoughts.

(selections from lots of operas, Mozart's Requiem, Schubert's "Winter Journey" and "Death and the Maiden", etc, etc, etc.)

If a teenager is not entertaining any thoughts of self-harm, then they will not be the slightest bit interested in seeking out art forms with that kind of message.

On the other hand, if someone is already overwhelmed by hopelessness and despair, they may be inspired to take their own life by seeing a dead leaf fall from a tree, or watching the rain run down the window, or reading a poem...

(what are they going to do, ban all that stuff???)

aldona