Community churches providing mental support

By Melissa Erny
An increasing number of high school students, young adults and every other age group are committing suicide have been coming into light. It has raised concern among all kinds of groups ranging from people having these suicidal thoughts to parents of children being bullied in high school to coworkers of people who just seem off.
For some people, therapy isn’t enough, so where else can they turn? The answer could be right down the street or around the block, holding Mass every Sunday. It is not the first place thought of when it comes to suicide, but churches are doing their part to help too.
In 2006, suicide was ranked the 11th most common cause of death for all United States citizens and the third most common for young people, according to research done by the American Association of Suicidology. They found that in that year 33,300 people died as a result of suicide. Their study also notes that the number of suicides between 2004 and 2006 has shifted back and forth from slightly decreasing to stable. However, this does not mean that it is still a problem. New York alone had 1,326 in 2006 coming in fifth behind California, Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania.
Katherine Dunham, associate professor of the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, says it is difficult to identify one common cause that would explain why most people want to commit suicide.
“Contributing factors can include pre-existing mental illness, history of depression and hopelessness, traumatic experiences, substance abuse and many more,” Dunham says.
Suicide hotlines can be called and people can seek professional help from therapists but can connections be made with people in the community as well? For many different problems, people look to their church or find a religion for help. Could suicide be the same thing? Depending on where you go, the answer can be yes.
Maggie Edwards, a student at SUNY Plattsburgh, has suffered the effects of suicide and found sanctuary in the church. She was 8 years old when her brother died and last month she lost a friend to suicide. Those who have been the most supportive of her were members of her church. Even though they have assured her that it is a sin to commit suicide, they have been there for her and her family. On April 24, she held SUNY Plattsburgh’s first American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Campus Walk where students and people in the community could attend and walk for the cause. Edwards’ church donated over $1,000 to the cause.
The Church of the Nazarene on 187 Broad St. will be addressing the issue through the youth group they have every Sunday evening, reaching out to children and teenagers in kindergarten through 12th grade. Though an exact date is not set, Associate Pastor Kevin Finley says in the near future the group will be watching a film called “To Save a Life”, which had been specially screened at the Cumberland 12 movie theater to bring suicide awareness to the community.
“We certainly try to stay aware,” Finley says. He also hopes that if people needed to talk about this problem that they would try and get in contact.
Elizabeth SanSoucie, the office manager and pastor’s wife at the Assembly of God, says, “Our pastors would council somebody.” She says that they want people to find “hope in Christ” and that they would be more than willing to talk to someone in this situation. They can be found at 164 Prospect Ave. in Plattsburgh.
Some churches, like the Plattsburgh United Methodist Church at 127 Beekman St., have professional councilors available. However, they have never had anyone come to them with thoughts of suicide. Rev. Marion Moore-Colgan says if someone came forth with this problem, they would first refer and strongly encourage them to call the suicide hotline. The number for the Clinton County Suicide Hotline is 1-866-5PREVENT (1-866-577-3836).
However, there are some churches that will not address the issue. An unnamed representative at the First Presbyterian Church in Plattsburgh simply said there are no programs and did not comment on the issue any further.
“Due to the very negative views that most religions put forth about suicide, it is entirely possible however that suicidal individuals may in fact go to great length to hide their feelings from fellow churchgoers, eliminating the possibility of obtaining help or social support from them,” Dunham says. The No. 1 thing that churches can do for these people is to provide social support. She says they need to be sensitive.
“It is possible to make the suicidal person feel worse if the response is not understanding and empathetic toward their feelings,” Dunham says.
Family, friends and clergy who they interact with at Mass can help them by convincing them to seek trained, professional help. She says that a person’s social connections are only a “frontline” that can help the person to do what is right for them. She suggests doing this by giving them phone numbers or finding them agencies to visit in as positive a way as possible. Even if they resist, do not dismiss, ignore or criticize their feelings. She says that if they reject the idea and feel help won’t work, it is just a part of the suicidal mindset that makes them pessimistic. The best thing anyone can do to help is try to find them a professional.