Chapter 8. Suicide
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life . . .
Deuteronomy 30:19
We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these LIFE . . .Declaration of Independence
I kept my faith even when I said, "I am greatly afflicted."Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself. Each year, about 28,000 people in the United States commit suicide. This rate has increased steadily since the late 1950's. It is highest among people age 65 and older. But since 1950, the largest increase in suicide rates has been among teenagers and young adults, with about 75 percent of all suicides committed by males.Psalm 116:10
What leads someone to suicide? Serious depression and drug and alcohol abuse are major factors. Most people who commit suicide do so for personal reasons, such as the death of a loved one. Some student suicides are caused by fears of the future, of failure, or of not being loved. Social conditions can play a part in some suicides, for example, loneliness, shame for some act or condition, and job difficulties. Mental illness or hopeless physical illness may also lead someone to suicide.
Some people believe that hopelessly ill people are entitled to physician-assisted suicide, whereby a doctor helps a patient die. Supporters of physician-assisted suicide advocate the administration of life-ending drugs by physicians to hopelessly ill, competent people. They feel it is a person's constitutional right to end one's life with a physician's help -- to die painlessly and "with dignity." Patients choosing assisted suicide feel they don't want to linger and become a burden for others.
Opponents find physician-assisted suicide morally objectionable and criminal. They question a depressed, terminally ill patient's competence to choose suicide. They also argue that physicians should not help people kill themselves because their job is to preserve life. Further cause for concern is -- Do doctors adequately treat depression? Is physician-assisted suicide a "quick fix"?
According to Bishop Anthony Pilla (Bishop of Cleveland and President of the National Catholic Bishops' Conference), "The assisted suicide agenda appears as a victory not for freedom, but for discrimination. At its heart lie demeaning attitudes and prejudices about the value of human life with an illness or disability. All who believe in the dignity of human beings should reject such attitudes." [66]
Assisted suicide is false compassion. True compassion leads to sharing another's pain and caring for the person with love and patience, not killing the person. Most medical groups, including the American Medical Association, consider assisted suicide unethical, and they fear it would damage doctor-patient trust. However, medicine today has been perverted by the abandonment of the high principles for which it once stood. The Hippocratic Oath states, "I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guide my life and my art." Only two times in history has the Hippocratic Oath been abandoned: in the Third Reich (Hitler's empire) and in contemporary times. We are facing a medical holocaust again today and a culture of death.
(See the previous section on Euthanasia to learn more about physician-assisted suicide.)
The legality of suicide
Suicide is neither legal nor condoned in most parts of the world. Considering the wide range of cultural attitudes in our world, it is significant that suicide is generally considered a terrible loss and not a rational act.However, changing attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide have an effect on attitudes toward suicide in general. While attempts to commit suicide or to assist another person in committing suicide are legally considered crimes, legality becomes less clear-cut when governments refuse to take action in certain cases of assisted suicide. By permitting medical professionals or other individuals to assist or encourage a sick or elderly person to die, government officials implicitly distinguish between "worthy" and "unworthy" lives, using a modern notion of personal freedom as a yardstick, not the basic sanctity of human life. This in turn makes it more difficult to deter others from committing suicide.
What is the Catholic Church's position on suicide?
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, God is the sovereign Master of life. "We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of." [67]God is love (1 John 4:16), and suicide is contrary to His love. We are commanded to respect human life as sacred because God has created every human person in His image. Hence, suicide is contrary to the love of God and self. "It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations."[68]
The Church also recognizes that "grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide. We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to Him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives."[69]
Impact of suicide
Suicide has devastating effects on loved ones. Survivors of suicide feel shame, grief, rage, and confusion. This is compounded by feelings of guilt and being stigmatized by others. It is important for survivors to work through the pain and isolation. There are many helpful books on healing emotionally after the suicide of a loved one. Survivors may also seek counseling or may start or join a survivor support group.What are some alternatives to committing suicide? Since suicide is a final, desperate act to cope with one's pain, persons considering suicide need help finding another way to deal with pain. They may seek help from a number of places: suicide prevention centers, self-help support groups, hospice, physicians or therapists, spiritual counselors, friends, and family. These people can help by listening to, praying with, and sharing the grief of suicidal persons. They can suggest medical help and moral guidance. They can encourage people who feel hopeless to live one moment at a time, stay active, and trust that in time they will find life worthwhile.
One can choose to honor the pain associated both with living and dying as an offering for the salvation of one's soul and perhaps the souls in Purgatory. Inspired by St. Francis, Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago wrote, "Through suffering we are filled with God's grace and love -- We can begin to think of other people and their needs."
What can we do as Church to help those who are suicidal? We, the larger family, must have compassion for those with suicidal tendencies. We must not shun those who have attempted suicide nor their families. We must pray for them and be available to help in any way possible.
As individuals, we should realize that even a smile and some small act of kindness can help a person considering suicide to find hope and forego suicide. We can cry, laugh, and talk with others who are hurting physically, emotionally, or spiritually. To do so would be to live out Christ's example to love and serve one another.
Resources
Recommended reading
"The Gospel of Life" encyclical, Pope John Paul II."Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One", Ann Smolin and John Guinan.
Agencies for counseling and survivor groups
Community NetworkHotline: 376-8701 or 426-2302
Good Samaritan Crisis Care
Light for Life Foundation
Project Brite Star
Suicide Prevention Center, Inc.
1-800-320-HELP
Business office: 297-9096
| If you think a person may be suicidal, you should: |
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Prayers
Please add your own prayers to these.The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me in right paths for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil;
for you are at my side with your rod and
your staff that give me courage.
You spread the table before me in the sight of
my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days
of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for years to come.
Psalm 23
Prayer for Those Contemplating Suicide
| O Lord and Giver of Life, may we all recognize the great value of the life you have given to each one of us. But look in a special way on those who no longer find any meaning in the life they are leading. |
| You can see every movement of the human heart and you know what depths of despair, discouragement, frustration, loneliness, or self-hate have led them to the edge they are standing on. |
| Have mercy on them and open their eyes to see that the road has not ended. Fill their hearts with new hope. Place people in their lives who will love them with your own love, and who will give them a reason to live again. Make them know that they are worthwhile and needed. |
| And Lord, if you wish to use me as your instrument in touching someone, feel free to do so. Amen. |
| Reprinted from "Queen of Apostles Prayerbook" with permission of copyright holder, Pauline Books & Media, Boston, MA, 02130. |
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