September 10 marks World Suicide Prevention Day which is an awareness day observed every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003.
Study shows that every year, suicide accounts for more deaths than war and homicide combined and is the second leading cause of death among those aged 15-29. Close to 800,000 people die by suicide every year, and for each death, there are more than 20 suicide attempt. Globally, 79 per cent of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries, however, high-income countries have the highest rates of suicide.
A thirty-year-old Southern California pastor Jarrid Wilson, who had opened up to the world about his own mental health struggles and together with his wife founded the outreach group “Anthem of Hope” to help people coping with depression and suicidal thoughts, opted to take his life away.
“Admitting your struggle with mental health doesn’t make you a bad Christian. I’m a Christian who also struggles with depression. This exists, and it’s ok to admit it,” he wrote on his Instagram page in August.
The outreach group he and his wife founded in 2016 sought to end the stigma of mental illness and connect people to resources including a 24-hour crisis line. Jarrid had a premonition of his death in a tweet before taking his life on World Suicide Prevention Day, leaving behind a wife two young sons and other family members.
Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts.
Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure depression.
Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure PTSD.
Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure anxiety.
But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort.
He ALWAYS does that.
— Jarrid Wilson (@JarridWilson) September 9, 2019
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), experiencing conflict, disaster, violence, abuse or loss and a sense of isolation are strongly associated with suicidal behaviour which prompts many suicides that happen impulsively in moments of crisis.