Suicide Prevention: Churches Provide Community and Meaning

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Anthony Pisani, suicide, suicide prevention, Thomas Joiner

Lately, I’ve been reading Thomas Joiner and Anthony Pisani on suicide and its prevention. They approach the subject from slightly different views, but at base have community- and person-focused theories. The key distinctive between their theories and most of what I’ve seen is they don’t assume a suicidal person is “mentally ill.”

Illness or Lack of Community?

Here’s the difference between the mainstream and how these two researchers approach the subject.
Mainstream theories – 90-95% of people who suicide suffer from 1 of these 4 mental illnesses: depression, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.
Joiner / Pisani – People who suicide have reached a point where they cannot find meaning in life, lack a community where they feel valued, feel burdensome to those around them — and have also obtained the fearlessness, means, and skill to do the deed.

The Church’s Role in Suicide Prevention

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Anthony Pisani, authentic community, church, hiv/aids, homicide, lgbqt, madd, mental health, mental illness, mothers against drunk driving, suicide, suicide prevention, Thomas Joiner, violent crime

We face a mental health crisis today in a suicide rate that is among the 10 top causes of death nationwide — as high as top 3 for some age groups. Suicide kills more people than auto accidents, HIV/AIDS, or homicide. Suicide is killing bullied children, military veterans, and our older men deprived of meaningful work.

Among the reasons that the death rates are now relatively lower for auto accidents, HIV/AIDS, and homicide are hard work we have done, as citizens, as civic organizations, as government agencies, and as businesses.