Suicide and Depression

Most people who commit suicide do not want to die. Most desperately want to live, but when the pain of life gets so great for so long, often people end their lives because they can no longer take that pain.

What's sad about this is that if people would just hang in there a little bit longer, things will get better and the pain will subside.

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Most of the time, people will shore themselves up against suicide for the sake of their children or parents or other loved ones. Or they may feel that ending their lives in an act of sin will take them from one level to a worse and eternal misery in hell from which there will never be an escape possible.

But, one statistic correlates with suicide rates across all cultures and that is divorce.

People underestimate the harm they do to their children and their spouses when they are unfaithful. Many abandoned spouses and children of divorce have considered suicide. Many have had to undergo counseling and have been put onto anti-depressants to help them cope.

But, why? Why the extreme depression and suicide?

Well, divorce and the loss of a child are said to be the top two common stressors in life leading to breakdowns, depression, suicide, etc. Psychologists have charts that give a weight to each kind of common stressor in life and if the total is over a certain amount within a given amount of time, chances of serious problems become high.

Yet, the stress of divorce, as horrible as it is, rarely comes without other stressors. In 1967 T.H. Holmes and R.H. Rahe came up with a Social Readjustment Rating Sacle based on Life-Change Units.

They placed the death of one's spouse first at 100

I was surprised to see that the death of one's spouse was listed higher until I realized that it's the combination of events that counts.

Divorce (73), Change in financial state(38), , child leaving home(29), change in living conditions(25), change in residence(20), change in social activities(18), change in sleeping habits(16), change in eating habits(15), possibly being fired(47), or foreclosure(30), and you end up with well over 200 units total.

When the depression of 1929 took place, suicides went up from the financial stress. But, divorce by itself is 73 points whereas a change in financial state is only 38 points.

So, it is hardly any wonder that abandoned spouses and their children often suffer serious depression and are frequent victims of suicide.

It is not easy for the unfaithful to face the pain they bring to their families, but living in denial can never help those who are suffering.

Many people have tried to stop suicides by spending millions on suicide barriers on tall buildings and bridges and such. While these things can be important for keeping people from a temptation that may take someone in a moment of weakness, if we wish to help prevent suicide, it will need to be cut off at the source, and the most prevalent source of suicide and depression is adultery and divorce.