Suicide on the Rise
The rate of suicides taking place in the United States has reached unprecedented levels. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it has now become a public health concern. In the US, suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death for adults. For teens it is the second leading cause of death. In 2016, roughly 45,000 people, over the age of ten, in America died from committing suicide. That is more than double the amount of people who died from homicide that year.
What is most concerning to experts is that there seems to be no single reason for the rise in suicide rates. Furthermore, over fifty percent of suicides were committed by people with no prior mental health condition. A 2015 study done by the CDC of 27 states found that the top three motives for suicide were relationship problems, substance abuse, or a past or upcoming crisis. In 42 percent of cases, the suicide victim had just been through a relationship problem. This was the number one motive found for suicide. Today the percentage of people who took their lives due to relationship troubles has increased.
Based on my personal experience, I would have to agree with the reasons for suicide given in these findings. In my book "Alive by Grace," I mention how I found the top three reasons for a person to consider suicide are financial burdens, the loss of a loved one, or feeling like life isn't progressing or had come to an end. Having spoken with and heard about those considering suicide, relationship problems were a big factor. I would like to emphasize that I am not strictly talking about romantic relationships; these could be relationships with companions, friends, or family members.
In most cases it was not the loss of the relationship in and of itself that brought suicidal thoughts. More often than not there were other problems that the individual was dealing with, but because they had someone else to go to when things got too rough, the burden was manageable. But with the loss of that special person, they had to face their problems alone. It's not that they couldn't keep fighting anymore, they just didn't want to.
I can say without hesitation that the worst moments in my life were when someone I was close to or cared about was taken or separated from me. The only thing that made those times bearable was knowing God was with me and watching out for me. In truth, I really don't know how people make it through this life without knowing God. Because there will inevitably be times when you have to face a massive problem alone. To not know that God is there with you at that time must be incredibly lonely.
I believe it is this lack of belief in God that is causing people to give up when they are faced with adversity. Even with all the means of "connection" in our world today, from phones, to social media, to dating sites, still a tremendous number of people feel very alone in their personal lives. People, especially in today's world, need to know that God exists and is with them in their times of tribulation.
—Christopher Cavalier is one of the authors of the book "Alive by Grace." "Alive by Grace" is the true story about Christopher being the first CDH-ECMO survivor at Boston Children's Hospital and the challenges he had to face in his life. The story is written by him and his mom, Suzanne Cavalier. Chris first started writing and speaking about his experiences at the age of twenty to encourage others. Chris and his family have a website to help share their story and message of hope: http://ecmosurvivor.com.