I have to admit that when I was a teenager it crossed my mind, but I never took it seriously. While I was in high school, though, a friend of a friend did commit suicide after his girlfriend broke up with him. I remember how the whole community was saddened by this. We all wondered if there was more that we could have done to help him.
Last year I had the opportunity of working on a book with a young woman named Kristen Anderson. Kristen tried to commit suicide by laying down in front of a train when she was 17-years-old. Kristen's life was saved, but she lost her legs. Here is Kristen's story.
If you or someone you know has suicidal thoughts there is hope!
Contact Reaching You Ministries if you need help ... or just someone to talk to.
1 comment:
When I was a teenager, it crossed my mind a lot. I was an outcast, I had little friends and didn't see much of a purpose for being an extra in the play of life. One night the only thing that kept me from using my father's pistol to end it all was playing Rush's album "Hold Your Fire" over and over and over in my tape deck. I also developed an attitude that it would make the people who teased me happy if I killed myself so I stayed alive to spite them.
Then in 2000 when I was thrown out of ministry because of my porn addiction I seriously considered it again. "God's people" abandoned me...no friends, no job...nothing. The only thing that kept me from it was my first child on the verge of being born and a pastor who took me to lunch each day and ended the convo with "don't kill yourself until I can buy you lunch tomorrow."
I know that feeling of being there and feeling like there's no reason to keep going. I still get peppered with those thoughts now and then when I'm facing the mountains that always seem to pop up (although I laugh and dismiss them. Satan's a crafty but annoying enemy.)
As to your comment that when a guy from your school did kill himself and you all wondered if there was more you could do...I don't know your specific situation but I can relate from mine. I once had a few students who thought I was on the edge tell the school counselor they were concerned about me. They called my parents in and called me in and I acted my way out of the meeting but the counselor let slip who the students were that contacted her. That weekend those same students had a party to which I wasn't invited. The following Monday I walked up to one of the girls and asked why she turned me in. She said she was worried I would do something to hurt myself. I asked her why if she was so concerned that she would leave me alone on a Saturday night while she had a party. She stumbled through an answer of only being able to invite a certain number of people (which I knew to be a lie.)
There has to be genuine concern and a lot of times we don't have it. We play it, we pretend to have it, we tell others at church we care so much...but at the end of the day we're really at a point where we can't be bothered.
Sorry if this is a little negative...for some reason your post struck a nerve with me.
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