There's been some crazy things swirling around social media these days in response to the news that Robin Williams committed suicide. I've been trying really hard to stay quiet and not voice my opinion because it seems everyone else in the world is, but I have been so infuriated by what I've read that I can't keep it in any more. Besides, no one reads my blog anyway, right? (Please don't go viral).
These are some of the main points I see that people are tying to make:
- It was depression that killed Robin Williams, not suicide
- Suicide is not at all selfish
- Suicide is sometimes a natural result of depression.
I completely disagree with all three statements. And I am no stranger to depression. I watched my mom suffer from it for years and I've dealt with it in my own life as well. It is completely debilitating and utterly hopeless at times. My darkest moments, where I myself had suicidal thoughts, are so fresh in my memory that it feels like yesterday, even though it was almost 10 years ago. So I can sympathize with people struggling with depression. And I realize that we as a church, as a body of Christ, as humans, need to be more educated on depression and how we can help those suffering from it.
That being said...suicide is always the wrong answer. And yes, suicide is a choice. Someone tried to make the comparison that when a person dies from cancer, they often actually die from pneumonia, or some other smaller virus that attacks their weakened body due to the cancer. But we say that they died from cancer and in the same way, we can say that when someone commits suicide (if they were depressed), that they died from depression. This makes me so, so, so angry. If you die from cancer, you don't have a choice. Your body betrays you and you die, against your will. Suicide is ALWAYS done by your own hands. Whether it's a gun to the head, a knife to the wrists or by swallowing pills, it is something someone DOES to them self. It does not just "happen." You don't just accidentally swallow a whole pill bottle or pull the trigger. No. It's a choice.
Also, yes, suicide is selfish. I never used to understand what would drive someone to literally take their own life, until I was in that dark place. Then I understood. And it was terrifying. But you think of your family, your friends, the ones that love you. You think about what that would do to them, how it would saddle them with guilt and grief for the rest of their life. At least I did. And for some, that's not enough to make them choose life. I realize sometimes the pain is just so bad and so deep and so dark that you stop thinking rationally and can't see any other options. But our life is not ours to take. That's the thing. The only one that has a right to take a life is God. He gave us life and only He should be the one to take it away. Anytime anyone takes a life, whether theirs or someone else's, they are stealing. When someone commits suicide, they are stealing themselves away from all those that have loved them, invested in them and built a life with them. I can't think of much that's more selfish then that.
I really really don't want to come across as un-sympathetic or un-caring, but I''m scared that if people start believing that suicide isn't selfish or isn't really their choice anyway, that it will start being acceptable, or at the very least tolerable. And it shouldn't be. There are so many that are suffering silently. They need to know that suicide isn't the right answer. We need to point them to Jesus. We need to stop praising celebrities who kill themselves and we need to stand up. Lives are at stake, and unless they know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, people are spending an eternity in hell when they die, no matter how they die.
Harsh? Maybe.
Truth? Absolutely.
I agree with you, but I would take it one step further... As a Christian, we would all agree that we are inherently sinful. We are steeped in sin, and are incapable of behaving outside of sin except by Christ alone. I have also struggled with depression in various forms myself, particularly in my teen years - I hurt myself, and even unsuccessfully tried to kill myself a few times - and although I struggle to reconcile the amount of 'chemical imbalance' that is present in these situations, I believe that there is a spiritual battle present constantly - and I see it as being so completely obvious in the kinds of illnesses that modify our behavior. Depression was - in my experience - an inability to see the big picture. It was the belief that somehow my current situation was so awful, so hopeless, so insurmountable that I would never be able to overcome it. If I could have realized that I was not alone, that others experience some of the same difficulties daily - and many worse than mine - and stepped back to see a bigger picture, I could not have continued in the same sort of depression, because ultimately, I was feeling sorry for myself. I was being completely self-centered. Now, I can't say if it is really possible to stop depression on your own, and in fact I'd have to say I agree it is sometimes not possible - but that's what Christ came to do, right? Overcome the sin we CANNOT overcome?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I just recently had this discussion with a close friend of mine, and she disagreed - she believed that emotional illnesses are purely physical and are therefore the actions of a depressed person are not their 'fault'. My Dad experienced a number of emotional changes while his brain was deteriorating - at one point he even became extremely argumentative and even somewhat violent - I know this happened as a result of physical changes, but does it make it any less sin?
I followed up this conversation with a friend who was absolutely and undoubtedly plagued by demons in his Bible school years. We would find him in dark stairwells talking in voices that weren't his own. He was terrifying. Later, he was diagnosed by medical professionals as having depression, and was promptly medicated - which helped, but made him feel lobotomized. After a year or two of medication, he chose to let God free him instead, and has been medication-free (and depression-free) ever since. He has learned which activities and which people trigger his depressive thoughts, and has chosen to focus on God and pray for deliverance whenever he feels his negative thoughts returning. It has not been perfect, or easy, but he knows that it is purely the grace of God that has pulled him through, and he relies every day on that grace.
Anyway, I wondered where you were going with this, and since I'd just recently been thinking about it myself, I thought I'd weigh in. I also hope this doesn't go viral. :P