It’s truly amazing how many people are contemplating suicide these days. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more Americans now die of suicide than from car accidents.
A few months back, young friend informed me that he was working suicide prevention on the Net and quoted some astounding figures for the down and depressed, but it was someone else who later informed me as to what had brought him to this quest of salvation. I later found out that he himself had recently mulled over the idea of punching his own ticket, due to a perceived medical problem that had convinced him he was going to die, and I assume to do so in a less than pleasant way. Thankfully, he didn’t quickly act upon the scare and one way or another the situation was soon resolved. Nevertheless, the episode brought his attention to the reality of record numbers of people, mostly young, who were actually contemplating the dark deed and had convinced him to become active in prevention.
For most people, it’s
hard to think in terms of things being bad enough that they would even consider
giving up their life, especially those with the American mindset of “life is
good” and will stay that way. But beyond the glimmering masses of optimistic
citizen cyborgs lay a substantial percentage of people who don’t see each coming
day as another great opportunity to garner pleasure and treasure, but yet
another day of sadness and pain. I myself have visited the darker side of dawn,
waking up to a sorrowful feeling of hopelessness and, half wishing the angel of
death had taken me while I slept. And I have gone through seemingly unending
weeks of anguish and despair, first arguing and then pleading with God about my
gloomy disposition. Had it not been for an unexpected e-mail recently from a
very special person, I’m not sure I would have survived the week.
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