Uncomfortable Issue The Church Needs to Talk About!

Uncomfortable Issue the Church Needs to Talk About!

Sometimes on the outside damage can’t be seen, but on the inside turmoil is taking place. We tend to hide the signs of depression until it’s too late. We are in a social media society where we tend to escape and show all the “good’’ and “happy” things along with desperation for likes and followers are the norm when in the real life we are hurt within. When this damage progresses, unseen by others, it prevents us from being able to receive the fullness of life and destroys us from the inside out.

Depression and anxiety tend to be some of those touchy subjects that are tough to tackle from a Christian perspective. It’s not complicated just because the illnesses themselves are so complex, manifesting themselves in a manifold, but also because perspectives about mental disorders vary greatly throughout the Church and cultures.

After most of the major types of cancer and road accident, Suicide is next on the list of the cause of death in Mauritius. Suicide is a serious health and social issue whose aftermath can be particularly devastating for those left behind.According to the latest WHO data published in 2017 Suicide Deaths in Mauritius (est. Population 1,300,000) reached 119 and the majority of it falls in the age group between 15 yrs. – 29 yrs., while the recorded attempt to suicide exceeds the 1,000 yearly. And the attempt to Suicide for the age group of 13 yrs. – 19 yrs. according to the MOH is approx. 265 numbers/year. Fair to note that between 1965-1979 the Suicide Death in Mauritius barely reached 50 cases and in 2017 patient with first attendance to Mental Hospital (BSH-Brown Sequar Hospital) was 8,632 and almost half of it was in the age group of 20 yrs-39 yrs.

Cutler, Glaeser & Norberg (2001) put forward four theories that attempt to explain suicide among the youth. These theories have been devised based on two basic facts: the variability of youth emotions and the lack of resources available to youth. Research also shows that victims of suicide attempts, themselves suffer from the severe consequences of their act(s), even years afterward.

SHOULD THE CHURCH BE CONCERNED BY THESE FIGURES AND FACTS?

If we are dealing with mental depression it's not because we aren’t spiritual enough. Being unwell in mental health is not a sin, is not a weakness, and is not our identity. Because depression is a "depressing" of a person's passion for living, the church must be a proactive voice addressing the topic. We know that God wants us all to have life more abundantly and we are a family that helps each other through the highs and lows of life. A depressed person feels hopeless and we have to remind ourselves that people with depression are just people, like you or me. They’re going through something that is out of their control, and it affects their lives in painful and debilitating ways. Treat them with the compassion and kindness they deserve and should not abandon them at all.

Lisa Miller, professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University's Teachers College published in September 2011 in The American Journal of Psychiatry showed a 76 percent decrease in major depression in adults who said they highly valued spirituality.The suicide deception is a lie, and the only way to counteract a lie is with the truth. The truth is when we focus on faith and are surrounded by a community; it leads us running to life. We’ve got to fight with faith, and sometimes the only way to fight back and exercise faith is to get up after being knocked down. To choose life and discover purpose we have to get up.

“suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

We, as followers of Christ, have a responsibility to shift the paradigm and the ways of thinking of our society. My challenge to the Church is that we might move beyond the whispering, the silence, and the stigma. Instead, let us understand and show others that Jesus came seeking, saving, and healing the lost and the broken.

One of the ways we can respond to depression in our community is to dare to talk about it.

Because we care!