“US suicides hit an all-time high last year”: Is faith relevant to death by suicide?
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2023
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
About 49,500 people died by suicide last year in the US, the highest number ever. This comes to 135 per day. The recent apparent death by suicide of a beloved pastor in Texas made the issue more real for me. It caused me to reflect on other pastors I’ve known over the years who died in the same way. And to relive memorial services I have conducted for suicide victims and their families, among the most painful experiences of my life. These reflections raise a formative question: Does our faith help to prevent suicide? If so, why? If not, why not?
Author: Jim Denison, PhD
Narrator: Chris Elkins
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Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/us-suicide-all-time-high-last-year/
The Denison Forum website also has practical resources from mental health professionals here and here. And watch this video in which Dr. Jim Denison discusses suicide in biblical context.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Should Christians boycott? Is Christian Nationalism Biblical? |
| 0:06.0 | Should Christians send their kids to public schools? |
| 0:09.0 | We tackle these questions and seven more in our latest volume of Biblical Insight to Tough Questions. |
| 0:16.0 | Support the mission of Denison Forum and request our new book today at the daily article.org. |
| 0:25.3 | It's Monday, August the 14th, 2023. Welcome to the Daily Article podcast. I'm Chris Elkins, |
| 0:32.7 | narrating today's article, written by Denison Forum co-founder and CEO, Dr. Jim Denison. |
| 0:40.0 | The death toll from wildfires on Maui is now the highest in the U.S. in more than a century. |
| 0:46.6 | Survivors are describing an inferno that blackened the sky and laid waste to entire neighborhoods. |
| 0:52.9 | Some fled into the Pacific and stayed there for hours, |
| 0:56.4 | dodging burning trees, branches, and watching their town burn. |
| 1:00.8 | Now consider this Associated Press headline. |
| 1:04.2 | U.S. suicides hit an all-time high last year. |
| 1:08.1 | About 49,500 people died by suicide last year in the U.S., the highest number ever. |
| 1:14.9 | This comes to 135 per day, even higher than the death toll on Maui so far. |
| 1:21.3 | The CDC lists anxiety and depression as significant factors with regard to suicide. |
| 1:29.1 | Teens and their parents are especially at risk. Serious illnesses such as chronic pain, criminal legal problems, job or financial |
| 1:36.4 | problems or loss, impulsive or aggressive tendencies, substance abuse, current or prior history |
| 1:43.3 | of adverse childhood experiences, violence, victimization, |
| 1:47.3 | and or perpetration, and a sense of hopelessness are the other factor cited. |
| 1:53.0 | The recent apparent death by suicide of a beloved pastor in Texas made the issue more real for me. |
| 1:58.9 | It caused me to reflect on other pastors I've known over the years |
| 2:02.2 | who died in the same way, and to relive memorial services I have conducted for suicide victims |
... |
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