A suicidal person feels he or she has exhausted all possible options. Life has no meaning, no purpose, no future, so why continue to endure its extreme unhappiness, anguish, hopelessness, and despair? The obsessive belief that nothing will ever change for the better leaves him or her feeling helpless, with the conviction that death is the only way out.
Such a person is a victim of depression, tortured with feelings of unworthiness, sin and failure, deep guilt, and the need to be punished. Many things condition this person for the depressed state that can lead to suicide or attempted suicide: anger, envy, jealousy, fear, guilt, self-pity, sexual deviation, drugs, alcohol. It should be obvious to the helper, then, that root causes leading to such a crisis are likely to be deep and possibly of long duration. Many of these do, in fact, reflect back to childhood and therefore point to the need for prolonged professional counseling with a Christian psychologist or psychiatrist.
Although not all the problems of the suicidal person are spiritual, the ultimate problem for any person’s life is separation from God, solved only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Without this relationship with Christ, there can be no real solutions or healing.As a person experiences all that is involved in the new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) – forgiveness, freedom from guilt and fear, a sense of fulfillment and well-being, new motivation to life – forces for radical change are set in motion
Some people threaten suicide in order to get attention and sympathy. They want someone to listen to their hurt and frustrations. Others are beyond this point and seriously have self-destruction in mind.
