From what I know
Pain, mental or financial
Anger, I will show you
Mental, I am nothing
Get old and want to see Jesus

I was close to it at one time.
A friend,a combat vet, with PSD seeking help went to counseling, He asked if anyone had ever been in a firefight, no one in the group had. He asked how can you help me.
The counselor told him to leave "you are crazy".
He with help from family and friends is working though it.
In my opinion the Army should fire that counselor.

I was real close. Bad back pain. Unable to do anything. Figured if I couldn't live it was time to die. Wife called the VA. Put me on morphine. Withdrawal was bad. I didnt know I was addicted. VA sent me to Leavenworth. Doc said he didnt know if surgery would help. It did. I was lucky. Came home quit taking the morphine. Got sick thought I had infection. Doc chewed me out said I needed detox. It had already been several days and was not dead so just stayed home. I understand completely how some people don't think waiting for death is in their best interest.

I don't understand what makes a person take their own life. The best you can do, in my opinion, is work on keeping your own mind and body healthy. Try to support those you love in doing the same. But, I really don't know--it's very sad.

It's especially tragic when it is a young man or woman. The bullying thing is real (we had it but it was just part of life back in the day and kids could handle it better, I think). I have instructed my kids to beat the brakes off of any kid they see bullying a weaker kid. I'd rather deal with that than read about another suicide in our community.

It’s supposably in the Bible, take your own life, go to hades. Probably the only reason I’m typing this.

If you are out of your mind so much that you will take your life, are you mentally competent to commit a sin? Obviously, there is a spectrum but I am not so sure everyone who takes their life is headed to Hades. But again, I don't know.

It’s supposably in the Bible, take your own life, go to hades. Probably the only reason I’m typing this.
[/quote]
It's not. Jesus's death is enough to forgive all our sins. This comes from a (catholic?) mindset that you have to confess and ask forgiveness for each and every one of your sins or you won't be forgiven. Hopefully you have a good memory and don't forget, I guess. The thinking is that you obviously can't ask forgiveness for suicide if you're dead. This is clearly not the case though. When Jesus was on the cross, one of the dudes next to him said " We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" and Jesus told him “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” That guy confessed to being a sinner and being deserving of punishment, and asked Jesus to save him, but, importantly, didn't confess to any sin in particular. Yet Jesus still saved him.

No it's not.

It's not. Jesus's death is enough to forgive all our sins. This comes from a (catholic?) mindset that you have to confess and ask forgiveness for each and every one of your sins or you won't be forgiven. Hopefully you have a good memory and don't forget, I guess. The thinking is that you obviously can't ask forgiveness for suicide if you're dead. This is clearly not the case though. When Jesus was on the cross, one of the dudes next to him said " We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" and Jesus told him “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” That guy confessed to being a sinner and being deserving of punishment, and asked Jesus to save him, but, importantly, didn't confess to any sin in particular. Yet Jesus still saved him. [/quote]

***************

Catholic here. Let's say you are good with the Lord up until you pull the trigger. The last act is pulling the trigger and committing a big sin. You are no longer good with the Lord.

The other dude on the cross was about to die. He confessed right before death and was therefore good with the Lord.

Again, I am a Catholic so I am admittedly not a biblical scholar--although I have been doing a lot of reading!

I think the large difference between now and then was we only had to deal with it for a few hours a day. Now kids come home from school and spend their entire time on social media where the bullying doesn't stop.


Ol dad

Excellent point.

Sitting down at the dinner table with your family every night, opening with a prayer, is a far better remedy than any prescribed medicine.

Ol dad

When you begin to understand how much your Heavenly father loves you as His child - you will begin to understand with Him, all things are possible. Bowhunter - I encourage you to read through and understand what Jesus has done for you and then truly think on it and let it sink in who you are to Him.

Some of you reading this now feel hopeless, have nothing going right with you and life just stinks. I encourage you all in times of desperation to cry out to our Creator and allow Him to pour out his love into your life. Understand that not one of us is without sin and we all need the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in our lives. We are His creation and who better would know us. Our generation has kicked God out of our nation and it will be even rougher for our children and those behind us if we do not lead them to Christ and the knowledge of who they are in Him. When we can begin to understand that God sent His only son to die for our sins so that we may have the hope of eternal life in Him - we should receive joy. It is a battle daily. We are commanded to take our cross up daily but the good thing is, the battle has already been won for us. We can not save ourselves - we can only admit we are sinners and need saved from our sins. When we receive that freedom from grace, our lives will be changed. Does not mean the attack ends but we do have One fighting our battles for us if we yield ourselves unto His grace and forgiveness.

Only a single qualification to receive the precious gift of salvation through grace - need to be a sinner - pretty sure we all have that one down.

I have been through it with two very close family members In both cases alcohol was a part of the problem But the truth i s I believe the problem caused the use of alcohol not the suicide Of course our family is not perfect but
t neither is it a never ending battle of hated for each other In fact I would say most people would be glad to have brothers and sisters that are like mind It is impossible for nearly all of us to know why If you have the kind of thoughts you should g get help immediately And i can tell you from experience it hurts those left to try t o know why feeling helpless over the loss they are now faced with Life is hard some times and I have no explanation hat makes it any easier.

Mental or Physical pain is the big factor and a lack or treatment or no desire for treatment. I for one will not go into assisted living I have watched to many people linger there because its big money for the facilities and a lack of freedom of choice in our country. We are allowed to treat our animals more humanly that elders that want to go with dignity and respect when there time comes. Wy has a very high rate of suicide and a lot of it is because of a lack of mental illness facilities and travel time. The attitude of someone dealing with depression is expected to cowboy up and deal with it. I think with a lot of young kids is pressure from social media in so many ways. The interenet even has sites that walk them through how to do it, very sick but that is where they turn to for help, not trained clinics.

It breaks my heart when I hear that another veteran gives up life.

Of course, anyone who does that , it's heartbreaking to hear.

My soft place is especially for veterans , who have given so much , and still sacrifice so much just coping with everything , after their service.

Words need to be "seasoned with salt", so as to KNOW how to make a response , to help.

The VA has refined its help much better than years ago, and there are very good groups of vets who are amazing in their help. All the time, to fellow vets in their dark times.

They are on call 24/7 for that one vet who needs them. Worth their weight in gold. They truly understand how to be encouraging .

Depression.

FWIW
The source of "it's supposedly in the Bible" that suicide is a direct ticket to hades -
Jesus says of Judas, who would betray him, that it would have been better for Judas had he not been born.
Judas later hangs himself.
Jesus words are understood as meaning Judas goes to hades.

It's assumed that Judas became despairing and hopeless and without faith.
That's the assumed reason *why* he committed suicide.
Those two seem reasonable assumptions and reflect circumstances surrounding other people committing suicide.

Some people interpret Jesus' words as referring to Judas' act of suicide, not to the very specific situation.
Then some make a logical leap, that Jesus' words apply to all who commit suicide.
Not all Christians interpret Jesus' words that way, and of those that do, not all make that logical leap.

The takeaway - Jesus is referring to Judas specifically, but the passage has been misapplied.

Lutheran pastor here.
I know well (and believe) the love of our heavenly Father and the redemptive work of Christ. I preach it all the time.

However, I also know depression well through personal experience and I have had suicidal thoughts.
Joy in Jesus doesn't eradicate depression any more than it removes cancer.
Depression is evident in Job in the Old Testament as well as in many of the Psalms.

As other guys have mentioned, mental health is a serious concern and help should be sought from competent professionals. You can "tough it out" through ear infections, heart conditions, etc., but the results won't always be positive, just as trying to tough it out through depression.

For me personally, one very helpful thing that my doctor recommended was a GeneSight test, about 2 years ago. I think it was just a cheek swab at the lab. The results showed how my body breaks down different medication. It grouped all antidepressants (as well as other medications) into three categories: red, yellow and green. The medicine that I was on at the time was in the red column and not working at all. Without finding the sheet, I *think* that I have a gene that causes my liver to produce an extra enzyme that breaks down that medication too fast to have any beneficial effect.

That's a very helpful medical advancement that makes finding an effective medication less random.
Brian