At its best, the Church is a center of wellness, reaching out to the disenfranchised, the hurting, and the marginalized as a place where healing and hope can be found. With that in mind, I feel compelled to share the following article from Mental Health First Aid USA, a program of the National Council for Behavioral Health.
Anthony Bourdain’s and Kate Spade’s deaths by suicide have sent shock waves throughout the country. Coupled with data recently released from the CDC highlighting that suicide rates are going up for everyone between the ages of 10 and 75, we know something has to be done. There is a mental health crisis in America, and we all need to step up to the plate.
What to do if someone you know is suicidal
Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 if you or someone in your life is thinking about suicide. And offer Mental Health First Aid (www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org) as a resource to your friends and family. There are already more than 1 million people trained across the country. Although many people worry that asking, “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” will insult someone they are trying to help — or worse, encourage someone to act on suicidal thoughts — Mental Health First Aid teaches that the opposite is true.
The more educated we all are on matters of mental health, the better hope we have of reversing the troubling trends developing around anxiety, suicide and depression. Let’s spread the word and make as much of a positive impact as we can.