It’ s time to pray and prepare
so we may prevent suicide
Communities of faith often resist acknowledging the presence of mental illness among their participants. Stigma is still too prevalent, especially among those who have been taught that their faith will help them overcome negative or self-destructive emotions.
Denial finds a lot of accomplices in many a community of faith!
But if you have teenagers in your fellowship, senior citizens who are living alone or facing health issues, veterans, people going through difficult life transitions, then someone in your congregation may be facing mental health issues they feel hopeless about.
Pray that your community of faith will come to a new awareness and compassion for those suffering in their minds and emotions.
Prepare your community by inviting speakers, hosting a suicide prevention course, initiating conversations & raising awareness.
Prevent a tragedy in your community by sensitizing others to the needs already in your midst.
Pray
If 1 in 4 Americans endure some form of mental illness, then the chances are good that someone close to you may be suffering and even considering ending their life.
Please, take nothing for granted!
Pray for that person.
Better still, pray with that person.
Be with that person.
Love that person.
Pray that you may be available personally, spiritually,
and emotionally when that person needs you.
Pray for their recovery, their peace, their sense of hope and purpose.
Pray for those who are bringing care,
for their loved ones (parents, partners, support system), therapists and doctors.
Pray for your own strength to persevere alongside them while they are in pain.
Pray for wisdom to act on their behalf and intervene when necessary.
Pray for courage to ask the
Question.
Prepare
If we are to be faithful, love must be prepared to act.
The uncertainties of mental suffering mean we may need to respond with little notice.
Preparation is the shortest route to prevention.
So, it is essential that
we prepare now.
We must learn new ways of listening and develop new skills of interaction.
We need knowledge in order to love effectively, so we arm ourselves with the tools we want to have on hand before we ever need them.
Prepare by taking a QPR or other suicide intervention course.
Prepare by learning the warning signs of suicide.
Prepare by bookmarking several key web-sites devoted to suicide intervention.
Prepare by putting local emergency numbers in your contacts list right now.
Prepare by knowing the closest and most available sources
of intervention in your area.
Prepare to ask the
Question.
Prevent
Prayer and preparation enable us to act with confidence
on another’s behalf when they may need us most.
Suicide is very preventable
if appropriate steps are taken in
a timely and caring manner.
Your presence reassures someone they have a partner in their pain.
Your loving intervention can become a new building block for hope.
Your swift response may reassure someone that other options are possible after all.
Your perseverance on their behalf may spark a new sensation of hope.
Prevent that suicide from taking place.
Prevent that trigger from being pulled.
Prevent those pills from being ingested.
Prevent that leap into final despair.
Ask the Question:
Are you considering suicide?
Are you thinking about harming or killing yourself?
Are you contemplating ending your life?
Ask the Question.
Save a life.
QPR
Question. Persuade. Refer.
Like CPR, QPR is a simple process anyone can be trained to use to help save the life of someone in crisis.
Learn how to recognize the warning signs of suicide and how to Question someone about potential suicidal thoughts Persuade them to seek help and Refer them for professional assistance
To host a QPR Suicide prevention course for your group or congregation in southern Rhode Island
call 401-788-2373
Information from this page is from a brochure published by Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds of Washington County, Rhode Island.
For more information about suicide prevention and the Zero Suicide initiative, click here...
