NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Park Hill Baptist Church’s group ‘Celebrate Recovery’ opened a conversation they said is taboo in many congregations: preventing suicide. Sunday, their goal was to save lives.
In 2017, 47,173 Americans died by suicide and it is a leading cause of death. Helping a person who wants all their pain to stop is something many people struggle with. “So many people don’t know what to do with that, they don’t know exactly how to handle someone who maybe is struggling with suicidal thoughts,” Discipleship Pastor Garrick Conner said.
Conner held a seminar to give people the tools needed to save lives.
Some of those include:
- Ask if the person is thinking about suicide
- Offer Support and understanding
- Keep them safe
- Connect them with resources
- Follow up
“More about practical help, what can they do to be there for people who are struggling in the moment to connect them to resources to be courageous enough to ask them the question, are you thinking about killing yourself,” Conner said.
Community members who attended learned how to ask the hard question and how to listen. They also learned about things you shouldn’t say like, ‘cheer up’ and ‘it’ll get better.’
Jennifer Blanscet is going to use these tools to keep her loved ones safe. “Depression and suicidal attempts and ideation have touched my family's lives, unfortunately,” Blanscet said.
On average, there are 129 suicides every day.
The faces the crowd didn’t want anyone they care about to be a part of that statistic.“Different ways to approach somebody that you think could possibly be suicidal. Things you should and things you should not say, that was something new that I did not know about and learning those steps was beneficial,” Blanscet said.
Conner said this is the first time they’ve held the seminar, and with the rate of suicide increasing it’s something he won’t ignore.
“We still have so many churches who refuse to acknowledge the reality of mental health issues in their congregations or who simply say ‘more bible, more prayer,’ will fix everything,” Conner said.
You can find more resources about suicide prevention here, click here.
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