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drugs can't provide it. The family
doesn't seem to be interested or
care. Desires once fulfilled have no
lasting satisfaction. There is no
peace of mind.
At the apex of li fe, there is no
hope. They are blind to the scrip–
ture that says: "Rejoice, O young
man, in thy youth; and Jet thy heart
cheer thee in the days of thy youth,
and walk in the ways of thine heart,
and in the sight of thine eyes: but
know thou, that for all these things
God will bring thee into judgment"
(Eccl. 11:9).
Youths should be without the
pressures and stresses of adulthood.
Youths should be responsible and
dependable as youths. Youth
should be a time of rejoicing and
enjoying life, but life lived so it will
not bring condemnation in the
future.
A close, loving, understanding
and interested family is one of the
prime deterrents of futility in a
young person's life. Money, cars,
drugs can't substitute for a caring
family . Lasting happiness for either
the young or old does not come
solely
beca~se
of the physical goods
possessed.
Success Not the Answer
Wealth and success are not the ulti–
mate answers. Not having to be
concerned about the needs of life
doesn't guarantee happiness. Tiny
Denmark, with one of the most
advanced social welfare systems
and the highest standard of living
in the world, is cursed with the
highest rate of self-destruction in
the Western world. Nearly twice as
many Danes take their own lives as
die in automobile accidents. Close
behind Denmark is another ad–
vanced social-welfare state,
Swe~
den.
Having the needs of li fe and the
worry about those needs taken care
of does not automatically provide
contentment, regardless of what
the Haitians and Vietnamese refu–
gees think.
In many of the more affiuent
areas of the United States, the
death rate by suicide among young
people is above the national aver–
age. Growing up with wealth or
having needs guaranteed by the
state means there is nothing Ieft to
November/December 1982
work for. This world's standard of
success is not the panacea to end all
woes and solve the problems of life
for either young or old. All too
often it destroys any real purpose in
life. Without something to strive
for, to aim for and to hope for, the
meaning goes out of life. Not
knowing the real purpose for
humanity the reason to live van–
ishes.
God told the people of ancient
Israel: "There is a way that seem–
eth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death"
(Prov. 16:25). People daily are
choosing the way that seems right
to them. But the way that seems
right ends only in empty, frustrated
lives-and, for many, suicide.
Medicine the Answer?
Suicide is not a pathological prob–
Iem. It is not a biological problem
of the brain. It is not a genetic
problem of the brain.
It
is a prob–
lem of the mind.
More than half of all physical ills
are mentally or spiritually caused.
One medica! expert estimated that
70 to 90 percent of his patients fell
within the category of those having
nothing wrong with them physi–
cally and whose physical ills are
due only to the vicissitudes, the
problems of life.
All too often, then, the supposed
answer to the patient's problem lies
in self-destruction. Doctors can't
seem to stem the tide of suicide.
Studies in San Francisco, Philadel–
phia and other U.S. cities indicate
that ·more than 70 percent of the
persons who commit or attempt
suicide are or recently have been
under a physician's care.
Many times the drugs prescribed
to help relieve the problem are the
instrument used to end the prob–
lem. So apparently medica! assis–
tance isn't the final right solution
either.
Medicine and medica! treatment
aren't the answer. Wealth isn't the
answer. What, then, is the answer?
We are able to make nuclear
bombs, rockets, spaceships and
send meo to the moon. We put a
space shuttle into orbit and bring it
safely back to earth to be used
again and again. We plot courses
across millions of miles of space to
bring our technological instruments
close to distant planets. In every
way, we are advancing in techno–
logical skills and abilities.
Yet we are unable to chart the
course of human life in the paths of
happiness.
Reading the Warning Slgns
There are warning signs of a pend–
·ing attempt at self-destruction.
They are often silent pleas for
someone to hear. The indications
are basically the same for either
young or old. Suicide is a problem
of all ages and it is increasing in all
age groups.
A threat of suicide should be
taken seriously.
It
is rarely done on
a spur-of-the-moment impulse.
There may be a preoccupation with
death or the afterlife. Abrupt
changes in behavior, moodiness,
withdrawal, aggress iveness, insom–
nia, lethargy and Jack of interest in
personal appearance are also poten–
tia! signs. Loneliness and Iack of
friends can be indicators as can the
giving away of prized possessions.
A sudden burst of euphoria and
an increase of activity following
such talk or actions doesn't mean
the worries are past. Often the
arriving at a <lecision to take one's
life is a momentary Iift because the
decision has been made. It helps if
you can get the person to discuss
what is on his or her mind. In many
cities there are counseling centers
to help with these problems.
lt
helps to understand what the physi–
cal effects of life are. But the real
cure is to find the cause.
What is needed is a
~enuine
solution of a totally different kind.
Present-day religion does not hold
the key to this problem because it
doesn't know the reason for man's
existence. There is far too Jarge a
gap between the 20th century reli–
gion as it is preached in most
churches and the firs t-century reli–
gion taught by Jesus Christ to his
apostles.
The young person or the older
adult who has to face the apparent
futility of everyday life, who has
been looking for answers and seek–
ing to escape emptiness, sees no
hope in the world's society. Every
day there is the threat of nuclear
war, economic chaos, unemploy-
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