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Suicide: Facts, religious
aspects, ethical considerations...

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If you feel suicidal right now, please consider doing one of the following: You can look for the number of a distress center, suicide hot line, or crisis center within the first few pages of your telephone book. This might be the best option, because a group in your area may be able to suggest better local referrals for you If you are located in the U.S. or Canada, you can phone The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: ™ TTY:  1-800-799-4TTY  (4889) They are open 24 hours a day They also have a chat line at 1-800-273-8225 for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. You can communicate over the Internet using the keyboard and screen of your computer, smart phone or tablet. You can find a list of crisis centers anywhere in the world at: http://www.iasp.info/resources/ Another list, mostly for the U.S. is at: SuicideHotlines.com A list, of distress and crisis lines in Canada is available at:https://suicideprevention.ca/ You can find a list of crisis centers anywhere in the world at: http://www.iasp.info/resources/, or You can go to the About.com web site for some suggestions.

You don't need to be suididal to call most or any of these lines. They generally receive many more calls from people who need referrals, or are distressed, or in need of information, than calls from persons who are suicidal.

The U.S. federal National Suicide Hotline Designation Act is now law. By 2022-JUL, a three digit telephone number (988) will be useable everywhere in the U.S. When the act is implemented, dialing that number will connect you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

A brief overview:

Why people committ suicide continues to be a largely unanswered question. Most people believe that suicides are associated with a long-lasting depression; they are often "a permanent solution to a temporary problem." But, data shows that:

"... about 2% "of severely depressed people eventually die by suicide, which is only slightly higher than the 1.6% of people from the general United States population who eventually die by suicide."

In North America, they seem to peak annually in the early springtime. One theory is that individuals decide to commit suicide while profoundly depressed in the dead of Winter, but lack the ability to organize their own death. Later, when the weather improves and they feel more in control and are able to arrange their suicide.

Others who commit suicide are not depressed. They kill themselves because of terminal illness, intractable pain, and/or the loss of dignity, control, and autonomy -- or anticipated loss -- which often accompanies terminal diseases. 

Emergency support services are available to help persons with suicidal ideation, often on a 24 hour basis. Suicide prevention hot lines (sometimes called distress centers, crisis centers, hotlines, Contact, Telecare, etc.) offer non-judgmental, confidential, caring support by trained volunteers. Telephone numbers are often listed on the inside front cover of local telephone books.

Throughout North America, the act of committing suicide is no longer a crime. However, actively assisting a person to commit suicide remains a criminal act. ₂

Certain groups within the population are much more at risk for suicide. These include Aboriginals, persons who suffer from various mental disorders, lesbians, gays, and bisexuals   Persons who are transgender appear to be at the highest risk to commit suicide. About 40% attempt suicide some time during their life because of the gender that they feel they are conflicting with their biological sex assigned at birth.

Topics covered in this section:

	Facts about suicide
	The World Suicide Prevention Day
	Worldwide efforts to prevent suicide
	Incidences of suicide within different groups: Members of religious groups Gay and lesbian youth The Innu in Canada Other Canadian First Nations: Part 1  Part 2 Persons with mental illness 2018-DEC: Conflict during a Catholic funeral of a teen who had committed suicide
	Suicide and the Bible
	Teachings of the Roman Catholic Church about Suicide

	Sources of information on suicide methods on the Internet
	Criminalizing and censoring information sources on suicide
	Physician assisted suicide (PAS); a.k.a. Medical Aid in Dying -- (MAID) < A large section.

The following information source was used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlink is not necessarily still active today.

1. "Why predicting suicide is a difficult and complex challenge," The Conversation, 2018-JUN-09, at: https://theconversation.com/
2. "Is Assisting With Suicide a Crime?," Find Law, 2019, at: https://healthcare.findlaw.com/

Copyright © 2000 to 2019 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2001-FEB-6
Latest update: 2019-JAN-19
Author: B.A. Robinson

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