Dark Days

Does it seem like suicide is becoming more and more popular these days?

With the passing of Robin Williams this past week, suicide has been thrust into the celebrity spotlight once again, and as is always the case, tributes abound.

There is never a shortage of wonderful qualities, talents, deeds, and experiences to share once a person is gone, and it is especially tragic when one takes his own life.

Are there some people who are destined to suffer suicidal depression while others are not?

Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man-child is conceived.'  Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine on it. - Job 3:3-4

In today's reading, Job has had enough.  He has been beaten down and is now cursing the day he was born.  It would be better, he feels, if he had not been born.

Is that the same as wanting to end it all?

I suggest that there is a big difference between what Job was feeling and what someone in a suicidal state brought upon by depression would feel.

Let me start off by saying I have no first hand experience with depression, so I cannot share what it feels like.  I do know what friends have told me, friends who have suffered with cycles of depression, some experiencing the highs as well.

Job was doing fine when things were going well.  It was only when he could no longer make sense of the series of misfortunes that came his way that he started down the path of seeking answers, looking for reasons, and wondering what he had done wrong.

If it wasn't for his faith in God, would he have given up, would he have taken his won life?

We have no way of knowing, but it would be great if faith is all we need to combat suicidal tendencies and/or depression.  

What Job and my friend have in common is dark days, those times when all is lost, when terror replaces reason and every action by others is viewed as an attack or threat.

The difference lies in how the two react to these threats, with one cowering in fear and the other crying out for answers.

So, back to the rash of suicides today.  Are there more than at other times, or are we just hearing about more of them?

Many will argue that the publicity given to teen and celebrity suicides has no impact on the number of suicide attempts, but I wonder if that is true.

It could be a combination of factors that leads some to think the alternatives to live are better than the prospect of struggling through it.  Surely for Robin Williams, the onset of Parkinson's Disease may have played a role in his decision, but he was probably more susceptible to the alternative than someone who has never experienced that level of depression.

In the end, we are all going to exit this life.  There is no escaping that, but I am not interested in accelerating the onset.

Let it come when it comes, and not a moment sooner.  

That doesn't mean I won't be ready.  God knows how ready I'll be, but if there is something left for me to do, even if it is painfully difficult, why not give it my best shot?

What have I got to lose?

More to come...

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