Suicide, Mental Illness & Depression: How Should We respond?

If you have been listening to the news at all, you have some knowledge of the horrific plane crash that killed some 150 people last week. Not one person survived that awful crash. Many, many lives have forever altered, including hundreds of families. Yes, three Americans were also killed in this crash. We have been learning that this crash was no accident and that the responsible party was the co-pilot. He had deliberately crashed this plane.

The Responsible Co-pilot and Mental Illness

In these past few days, as the investigation of the co-pilot in that plane crash has begun, the media has let out more ad more details of the pilot's situation. First of all, he was said to have had a history of "metal health issues" though he seemed likable and pleasant to those who knew him. He was quoted as saying that "I have depression." He would not report his mental health issues, fearing stigma, fearing that he would lose his pilot's license. You may very well think: He would rather risk the lives of 149 people plus his own, rather than stigmatizing himself through self-disclosure? While his attitude and his lie of omission may indeed have been deceptive, why is it that he would have felt the "need" to lie by omission in the first place? He was said to be "unfit to fly." I understand that the FAA had lifted the stigma of mental illness, allowing pilots with a history of mental illness to fly (correct me if I am wrong). Yes, I agree the piloting a plane, with multiple human lives in your hands, is an awesome responsibility. It is a privilege, not a right. He should not even have been put in that position. Clearly we do not want to deny people with depression or a history of mental illness the right to participate in life and to be full citizens and to reach their full potential. But we do not want to put the lives of the public at risk, either. This is much like seizures and driving or eyesight and driving, both which can keep one from driving for purely safety reasons. We may never know all which actually happened in that awful plane crash and what was in that co-pilot's mind or going on in his life. But what a sad, sad waste of human lives and all the permanently altered lives of many families, including his own! What was it all for?

The Faces of Mental Illness and Suicide

Many of us are aware of depression, mental illness and suicide. We just do not talk about these issues in casual conversation and they are subjects that we may speak about in hushed tones. What would cause a co-pilot to protect his pilot license above many human lives, including his own? Last year, I followed a case of a missing mom with two young children. It was not long before her body was found. The death was ruled as a suicide. That troubled me and still troubles me to this day, as this mom had two small children. Her family was not questioning the ruling or challenging law enforcement to re-open their quickly closed investigation, and see if this mom's death may have been a homicide. This mom's case still bothers me. I think many of us are aware of the sad statistic of (how may? fourteen a day?) veterans who end their lives by suicide. I have been visiting a certain website that contains many webpages for those dealing with various mental illnesses. Yes, there are those who deny the existence of mental illness and call it other things, and hold that it is man-made and a brainchild of modern pop psychology. I agree that too often, psychiatric medications may be over-prescribed and these medications may cover up deeper problems that should be addressed through working through issues with a counselor or pastor. But mental illness and depression are not imaginary or man-made and keeping the stigma going through silence, will not solve this problem. It will not keep people like co-pilots from flying when they should not. It will just go underground.

Are Mental Illness and Suicide Matters of Character and Faith?

I read many Christian articles and books. Mental illness and depression are divisive subjects in the Christian community. Some Christian circles see depression and suicide as viable physical illnesses of the mind that should be treated as illnesses. There are other Christians circles that believe that depression and mental illness are matters of faith and character, and should be treated as moral wrongs rather than as illnesses. I agree that some things that we typically call mental illness are not. Should we call overeaters "mentally ill"? I think not. Should we call people who take longer than a month to grieve "mentally ill"? I think not. Should we call children who are disruptive and rebellious "oppositionally defiant"? I wonder about that. Should we call pedophiles "mentally ill" people and treat their lust for children as illness? Hmmmm. It has been estimated that fifty percent of us would be classified as mentally ill, under the current DSM, if we took psychological testing. It is true that the Bible knows nothing of mental illnesses, but the Bible was written before modern science findings, certainly before behavioral science. Does everyone with atypical or extreme personalities have "personality disorders"? We have to admit that psychology is an inexact science and based on subjective observation of behavior, making it vulnerable to criticism by cynics and critics.

How We can Be Part of the Solution

There is no excuse for that co-pilot lying, by omission, about his mental health. Still, reduction of the stigma of depression of mental illness may have identified him so he would have disclosed his situation and have never been able to fly and end the lives of 150 people, including himself. I hate it when these type of stories make headlines, though I know they have to do so, to protect the public and raise awareness. But we can all help and be part of the solution. We can educate ourselves about mental illness, depression, and suicide. We can support nonprofits like Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which serves suicidal people in much of the developed world. We can volunteer for a suicide hotline. We can reach out to people in our lives who may be depressed or suicidal. And if we have faced depression, mental illness, or depression in our lives, we can share our stories. And we can reach out to the Lifeline whose number was presented at the above banner, or refer other people in crisis to it.

This banner is provided by The Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which you can find here.

If Jesus Visited Earth Today How Would We Have Treated Him?

          I'm just speculating here about how Jesus may have fared if He had waited until this Information Age and these high-tech, modern times to make His First Coming to oour Earth. If this Jesus, as portrayed in the Christian Bible, God in Christ and God the Son, had made His First Coming today as a sinless, ordinary-looking human being who claimed oneness with God and spoke as God, how would we have reacted to such a man?
          According to the Bible, when Jesus did come to Earth, He had come as a Jew, having been born to a devoutly Jewish family. For God had, for centuries before the time of Christ, promised to that in Christ, He would come as Messiah to save the Jewish people and to empower them to bring His salvation and love to the rest of the world. So if Jesus had waited to visit Earth today, where would He had chosen to live? Based on what we know of God's plan for the coming of the Messiah, I don't think He would have come to the USA, to Western Europe, to Australia or anywhere else where we'd expect God would make His arrival. No, He most likely would have made His arrival to modern Israel or to a community that where Judaism is the major stronghold. And who would have been the highly-favored, blessed set of parents whom He would have picked to bring Him into the world and raise Him? Based on the Gospel records of Mary and his foster dad Joseph it would not be anyone from wealth, fame, social connections or influence. God would no doubt have picked a couple of young teens from from poor but devout Jewish families who were expecting the Messiah, teens who, though typical teens with dreams and plans for their own lives, were willing to surrender to God's plan for their lives whatever the cost as Mary and Joseph were.
          In our age where abortion has become not only legal but socially acceptable, would Jesus have even have made it to birth? According to the Bible, Jesus was born under circumstances that would have been grounds for an abortion today. He was born to a teen age girl who, according to tradition, was no older than 13 or 14. That teen had received a vision of an angel telling her that she would be pregnant by the Holy Spirit so her Son would be holy and sinless, God the Son. Such a teen pregnancy, with no known human father and a teen mom who claimed to have seen a vision where she was told how she had conceived, would have been, without a doubt, been pressured to get an abortion. "Terminate this pregnancy now! This is the most crazy thing we have ever heard! You will ruin your life forever! Get rid of it!" would have been the kind of counsel Mary would have gotten. But with the record of the faith she and Joseph had under a very different, but equal pressures to not see this through, they would not have listened to this advice.
          And even if Jesus would have made it to birth in this abortion-minded culture, how would He have fared as a child? Probably okay. The Bible tells us little about his childhood or teen years. We are told that as a child He was "blessed by God" and "wise beyond his years." Then, the Bible tells us that as a teen and young adult, He "grew in mind and body" and in "favor with God and man" and was "obedient to them" meaning Mary and Joseph. We have the one scene from his youth, when He was 12 and His parents had lost Him, finding Him in the Jewish Temple after a three day search. These things tell us that Jesus childhood, teens and young adulthood were ordinary and uneventful, though stellar and virtuous. How would He have fared in our schools? No doubt, as a child, He was quite ordinary and the only thing that set Him apart was His moral perfection. He was studious, faithful, responsible, likable, kind, giving, strong and respectful. So He would have been well-liked. But He may have been misunderstood because of His deep interest in and obsession with God and religious matters and His wisdom beyond His years; He may have been called a "nerd" and "boring"
Certain groups of kids may have taunted Him and excluded Him because of His refusal to cave in to peer pressure to abuse substances or to curse and to stand up to bullies (nicely of course). Teachers and other adults would have favored this most well-behaved and mature boy and He likely would have been known as the "teacher's pet."
          We are told that He spent most of His late teens and young adulthood working hard as a carpenter in His foster dad's business. Today, had He picked an occupation in which to do His work it would probably had been in a mundane, even menial job or small business where He would have been valued because of His excellent work, faithfulness and goodness. Most of His problems began when He started His official, public ministry. And where would He have picked to do His work if He had waited until now for His First Coming? In keeping with the the Bible's portrayal of the people He liked to reveal Himself to, God in Christ would probably not have done His work among nice, respectable, religious people in affluent settings. This means that He wouldn't have picked any area of wealth, resources or influence for His work. He may have picked some inner city or large metropolitan area of diversity or some poor rural area with a strong Jewish stronghold, for His work. Religious leaders would have seen Him as a dire threat to THEIR empire and would have hounded Him throughout His ministry, just as the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders are recorded to have done in Bible days. Toward His last days on Earth, they would have brought Him to the attention of the media to incite hate. "This imposter needs to be stopped. He wants to overthrow us and set up His own empire! This blasphemer and traitor is claiming to be God, identifying Himself with the Father. Our people are going after Him, hanging onto His every word! This kind of MONSTER must be stopped!"
          But what if we could actually be there and hear the material in Matthew Chapters 5 to 7, commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount? If we could REALLY hear these teachings for the first time, how would we react to them? For example, "He who even looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery with her." How about this one, "If you eye causes you to sin, gauge it out and throw it away!"? Really read His words, "If you are even angry without a good reason and call your brother a fool, you are in danger of going to hell." And what about his strong words about divorce? "If you divorce your wives except for marital unfaithfulness, you make her an adulteress if she remarries and he who marries her commits adultery." "Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Wouldn't these words have confused us or made us furious? Would we have grasped it that He said these things to drive it home to us that we can't live up to these instructions and so need a Savior?
          According to the Bible, Jesus was homeless during His public ministry. We can read about His encounter with a rich young ruler who wanted to know the way to Heaven; Jesus told Him to sell all he had, give the proceeds from his sale to the poor, and then to follow Him. If Jesus walked into our workplaces, our schools, our social functions or our churches, with the odor of a homeless person, how would He have been received? What if He would have told us, "To please Me, you need to give up all you have and follow Me?" would He have gotten very far?
          How would we have reacted to the company He kept? The Bible records that He hung out with the most despised or stigmatized people of His day. This means that if He had come today, He would have befriended and eaten with users of substances like drugs and alcohol, HIV-positive people, sex offenders, prostitutes, other criminals, epileptics, those with mental illnesses and other hated or stigmatized people. Many of us law-abiding, affluent, proper citizens and activists/advocates  may have been offended or livid at his choice of companions. "This Rabbi is welcoming and eating with these MONSTERS who hurt our children," we child abuse advocates may have grumbled. "If He was really a holy man, why does He hang out with these scumbags?" many of us church people may have complained.
          How would His politics have struck us? According to the Bible, He showed little political interest and the only time this apolitical Jesus encountered politicians was when He was dragged before them prior to His death on a cross. As for political views, conservatives would have been elated at His stern declarations of God's demands for His people and His words of assurance of God's ultimate judgment on evil people. However, conservatives would have been unsettled, offended, even angry at His spending so much time befriending, helping and meeting the needs of all of the poor, sick,, homeless, disabled, and stigmatized people who sought Him out. Those with more liberal or progressive views would have treasured the priceless way that He favored and championed women and did so much to care for and reach out to the poor and the vulnerable and His teachings about our responsibilities to them. However, those with such views would have redefined or ignored Jesus' refusal to water down His Father's stern moral demands and have not realized that we can't really appreciate God's love until we consider His holiness.
          If an ordinary-looking, unpretentious man, who claimed equality with and oneness with God the Father and declared that He alone is the only way to be accepted by God and be fit for Heaven, was sentenced to die by crucifixion in according to the Bible, what would make us think it wouldn't be any different today? It doesn't, I think, make any difference whether we are encountering Him for the first time in-person or reading about Him in Scripture, for human nature does not change and the need to have faith also does not change.

         
         
         
       

Will You Accept Me?

          Acceptance. This is a gift where one person extends to another unconditional favor of the other who he or she is, not for what he or she is. It means valuing another, first and foremost, because he is a human being and not because of what he can do for you. It means that another person can safely disclose his or her personal or private thoughts and emotions and will not be judged or rejected. Acceptance is not to be confused with condoning the inappropriate, wrong or even criminal things another has done in the past or may be doing now, but does mean that even if you have to show "tough love" to another, that you will not reject him. This sounds like it is simple enough, so why have a blog about this? Well, if we accepted each other as people created equal, why is there racism, prejudice, discrimination, and stigma? Why are there so many suicides, divorces, job-hopping, church-hopping, friend-hopping, and why is self-disclosure of many devalued personal qualities still so risky? So maybe this blog on acceptance remains relevant.
          We all assume every child's right to be accepted by both his or her parents. This is why society has set up so many projects, organizations, resources for the purpose of preventing and ending child abuse. When children grow up without being accepted by one or both parents, it will affect him for life. Unless he or she is fortunate enough to possess unusual gifts or talents and opportunities to develop them, along with finding caring adults who take an interest in them, he or she will grow up with lots of baggage, including major trust issues, fears and anxiety and/or anger, self-hatred, even rage and bitterness. When children are not accepted by the adults in their life, we all pay for it later, when we find ourselves at risk because of bullies (of all ages), predators, pedophiles and other kind of criminals.
           It is rejection that motivates a number of shootings in schools, workplaces, the home and other settings. Don't get me wrong: I'm certainly not condoning the experience of rejections as any excuse to use killing self or others to "solve" one's problems. Rejection only provides an explanation for many crimes, violent and nonviolent. It explains lots of bullying that is done, especially in schools, workplaces and the home. It is commonly said that when people feel accepted and valued ffor who they are, they do not need to bully. The point here is that feeling rejected is a potent and demoralizing experience that fuels depression, anger, even bitterness and rage, anxiety, fear, trust issues, and more.
Feelings like these can and do motivate desperate acts that one otherwise would not do, unless one is able to find the resources and support to work through rejection and his baggage.
          I'll always recall that, when I was much younger, I saw a program about the heinous criminal, Charles Manson, that at the end of this program, his reaction to receiving his life sentence was "This is my home." Manson grew up rejected by his parents and was known as "No Name Maddox."
          Acceptance is growing toward the growing number of immigrants in our free societies, thanks in part to churches and nonprofits and other projects which have, and continue to, work hard and dedicate their efforts to re-settle these immigrants and help them assimilate into our culture. These immigrants often are able to use their educational backgrounds to set up their own businesses and achieve success. In face, the very fact of their not only acceptance but often even greater success than any "natives" causes a frequent undercurrent of resentment toward "foreigners" who are often seen as taking resources away from "our own" who are need similar help. I have seen instances where churches have funded placement for the children of immigrants into their church-based schools, a thing that they don't normally do for other children.With the economy being as it is, immigrant reform is a subject of debate. But it is possible to accept and value immigrants and anyone who is foreign-born while supporting measures that crack down on immigration for economic reasons.
After all, our God has created each and every one of us. But we need to continue to help resettle immigrants and help them fit into society.
          What often is overlooked, even in churches who claim to represent a God Who welcomes ALL people in Christ, is that there are many people "among our own" who often struggle with feelings of being strangers in a strange land because they face prejudice, stigmas, ignorance, and lack of accommodations because they have qualities not valued by society. Traditionally, people of racial minority groups, even "our own," have faced much prejudice and discrimination, but thanks to lots of political activism, legislation, courageous advocacy, and awareness, much of this has decreased. Racism is so commonly discussed that I do not feel the need to address it here, only to assure you that it remains alive and well, with an undercurrent of it apparent in how many of us treat the current US President. For he has been the object of many facial slurs, many not fit to be printed. Why have people been so quick to proceed with witch-hunts even about his birth certificate, among other things? Could part of all this be an unconscious racism and jealousy that a man of color hold the highest office in the free world? In fact, it is so bad that on Facebook there is a cause devoted to end the dishonor shown to the President.
          People with various forms of mental illnesses find that acceptance is not a thing to be taken for granted and so it is acceptance that they long for, before anything. There has been a long-time stigma surrounding mental illnesses, though the stigma of certain mental illnesses, like depression (the clinical variety and bipolar disorder) is lessening because of much advocacy and awareness about them. But because of the true crime cases where the suspects and/or the victimizers are often people with suspected or officially diagnosed mental illnesses, the stigma continues and is aggravated every time such a case makes the media headlines. There is a widepread misconception that mental illnesses make a person a threat to society, but most often, the person is a danger to himself because of suicide rather than to others. A diagnosis of most mental illnesses or a history of mental health issues, including receiving psychiatric services or pychiattric residential care, remain risky things to disclose, especially when applying for goods or services like insurance or employment or in romantic relationships. So people will go to great lengths to "remain in the closet" about their mental health issues.
          People with epilepsy and a number of other neurological or medical conditions that remain stigmas, can't take accetance for granted. Many will go to great lengths to cover up their conditions, knowing that self-disclosure of them is risky and exposes them to rejection, prejudice and discrimination. For those with epilepsy, self-disclosure is as risky as disclosing most mental illnesses and often it slams the door shut on many opportunities, including driving, employment and insurance.
When accetance is found, it is so rare that it is treasured. There is a nonprofit, The Talk About It! Foundation, that exists just to undo the stigma of this medical condition.
          People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD's) and other learning or behavioral disorders remain so stigmatized that many go to great lengths to "pass as normal" and over up their differences and challengers, since self-disclosure is risky. Yes, there are a few fortunate peope with ASD's and other, related, differences, who have achieved success, even celebrity status. But for every intance of this, there remain many, many more of these, especially with ASD's, who are unemployed or work in jobs that don't use their abilities or languish in jail or prison, because ignorance of their disabilities has led to injustice. Yes, there are now many more resources and organizations that through advocacy, bring awareness to autism and to other, related learning and behavioral issues. But much more needs to be done. So, for many of these people accetance remains a treasured gift never to be taken for granted.
          Acceptance is essential not only for emotional health but even physical survival, as without it one will have a much harder time finding employment, getting a Driver's License, housing, among other things. If the stigmatized person is fortunate enough to be able to depend on family or friends, his or her quality of life will still be much diminished. The surefire way of working toward acceptance for all is to reduce stigma and this can only be done through breaking codes of silence, as has and is being done concerning sexual crimes, addictions and other things that used to be among the "unmentionable." We need to "talk about it"!
          As for my own experience with this, I have found self-disclosure, especially recently, to be unsuccessful. Growing up with with a history of learning and behavioral issues, epilepsy, and a history of placement in stigmatizing special school and a few residential settings, I have found that disclosing these as well as my present challenges is risky and has slammed the door on opportunities to give and receive support. The words autism, epilepsy, emotional problems, and brain injury, are words that scare people and fuel their prejudices or stereotypes. But non-disclosure and "staying in the closet" will only ensure that these things will remain stigmas for future generations.
          The Bible is clear, that God is the One Who has created each and every one of us and this alone is reason enought to accept each other.

Stigma

          There are some things we just don't talk about, sometimes not even with our own families. When these things are mentioned, we tend to get uncomfortable, cringe, sidestep these issues by calling them other names or changing the subject or skirting these issues altogether. It is called stigma and is defined as as possessing a personal trait that society doesn't value, discredits or even despises. Stigma results in  codes of silence that allow secrets to fester and that allow many of out social problems to continue. It results in the stigmatized individuals often keeping silent out of shame and fear and believing lies.
          In the past, cancer used to be stigmatized and was not talked about, but thanks to courageous celebrities and others who began talking about their own battles with various cancers, we talk about it openly and this has opened the door to reaching out to cancer victims/survivors and fundraising and other efforts to prevent/end cancer. Today, we feel free to say the word cancer and to talk about our own experiences with it. Teen pregnany used to carry a horrible stigma, and teen mothers were forced to go into hiding and secretly make adoption plans for their unborn children. Or if they chose to parent their children, as my mother did (she was 16 when she gave birth to me), they faced many hardships and their children often grew up fighting differences in learning, behavior, and other differences and often were tracked into lives of lasting disadvantage. But thanks to efforts to set up pregnancy services to those facing unplanned pregnancies and through laws making adoption more attractive to such people as well as to prospective adoptive parents, such a stigma has much decreased. And the outcomes of people with unplanned pregnancies and their children today are much better than they were for my mom and for me in the 1960s!
          The stigma remains against HIV AIDS, though through awareness and advocacy, society has come to realize the origins of this condition and that it can happen to anyone. But much more needs to be done in this area and with reduced stigma and contined advocacy and awareness, we have much more of a chance to prevent/end HIV AIDS. And much more needs to be done for HIV AIDS prevention worldwide and for many children who have so tragically lost their parents to AIDS. And the stigma contines for epilepsy, even though it has lessoned a little. However, because of the continued stigma and the code of silence in talking about it, advocacy and fundraising efforts are being hindered as well as the attitudes of the public. Efforts continue and advances and scientific discoveries continue to be made. In an earlier blog post, I discussed my experience with epilepsy and stigma; I know many others can tell similar stories. If you want to include obesity (being over 20 perecent overweight) as a medical condition under this discussion, we all know there is definitely a stigma against anyone who is obese in many different ways and in society's attitudes toward the obese person. (No, I do advocate that if people have it in their power to prevent/end obesity, they need to do so, for the sake of their own health, as obesity carries many health risks.)  Often people do "eat themselves" into this condition, but many others are obese for complex reasons, including medication side effects, glandular conditions, especially of the thyroid, certain medical conditions and more. As people come to see that the causes of obesity are often complex, the stigma of obesity should keep decreasing.
          Mental illness definiely carries stigma; its stigma may not be quite as bad as in the past, thanks to the fundraising efforts and advocacy of brave individuals who have come forward to talk about their experiences with different forms of mental illness. But the stigma remains. The "insanity defense" and the high-profile true crime cases which have involved criminals with suspected (or actual) mental illness, have worsened this stigma. Though I realize the need to expose such crime cases and others to society to keep us safe, the media need to present these cases in such a way so as not to prepetuate the myth that most people with mental illnesses are dangers to society. Actually, most people with mental illness are more dangerous to themselves than they are to society; most of them are harmless. It's true that when people with certain mental illnesses don't take their medications or are not diagnosed properly, they as individuals may become dangers to others. But in most cases, most need to be protected from themselves rather than need society protected from them. In my first blog post, I mention my experience with misdiagnosis and being ""treated" with psychiatric medications which actually resulted in my becoming psychotic. I entered the world of those with mental illness for months; it was awful and traumatic!
          Abuse or crime, especially domestic violence in any form and sexual abuse, carry stigma even though many brave survivors and advocates have come out with their stories and this has lessoned the stigma somewhat. Witness how difficult it is for us to bring up the topic of sexual abuse with our children, while we know that we must do this to empower them to protect themselves. There is a wealth of resources for victims/survivors of various forms of abuse or crime; however, more needs to be done and I predict it will keep being done as we see victims/survivors of abuse or crime keep sharing their stories, and advocating. The same holds true for various addictions from substance abuse to eating disorders to harding to other addictions; as people keep coming forward to share their stories, we can talk about these things and people will be empowered to, over time, overcome their addictions.
          There is a stigma attached to neurological conditions like autism, Asperger's Syndrome (and to a lesser degree, to general learning disorders, ADD, ADHD, Tourette's Syndrome, among others). In one of my first blog posts, called "What is Autism?" I have told about my own lifetime experience with this and with being wrongly diagnosed, given treatments I did not need and often being sent to schools that added to my stigma. And I discuss much of the anguish I have suffered, how it has affected my quality of life and its effects on me to this day. I'm thankful that special education and education, in general, as well as scientific discoveries, have much improved since my childhood, teen years and young adulthood. But there remains a hidden, "lost generation" of people with undiagnosed conditions who today languish in jails or prisons, remain unemployed, or exists on the fringes of society, including among the homeless. Some fortunate individuals have been able to get diagnosed properly as adults and have carved out niches for themselves (ex., Liane Willey-Holliday and Stephen Shores) but most are not so blessed. Much more needs to be done to bring healing and hope this this "lost generation" through advocacy and research.
          The stigma of suicide is well-known. Sadly, I have known of pastors who have stated that they would not conduct funerals of families of loved ones who have ended their lives or who will not grant families assurance abut the eternal fates of their loved ones. My position is that God, while He is indeed infinitely holy, is also infinitely loving and merciful and that He does not see things the way that humans do. And the stigma affects families of troops or veterans in the US who have ended their lives, as for many years, they have not even received letters of condolence from the US government.
(Thankfully, the government is addressing this). Thanks survivors telling their own stories and to the advocacy of groups and organizations, the stigma of suicide is decreasing. But it is still there and more needs to be done. 
          The stigma of being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual is well-known. Whatever our own fellings about sexual orientation and what religious convictions we have that affect how we see homosexuality, those with different sexual orientations from the norms are human beings with the same rights as any of the rest of us. Even those with religious convictions about God's plan for our sexuality must see that He, in His infinite holiness, sees sins of jugmentalism, self-righteousness, hate, prejudice, bigotry, and other "respectable" sins with the same sadness and displeasue as He does sexual sins, which are well-known and do not need mentioning here. Sin is sin and when we see that God treats us all the same, stigmatizing because of sexual orientation is just as evil as stigmatizing for any other reason. Another reason we must end this stigma is because of the many people who silently struggle with same-sex thoughts even in churches, even against their convictions. The last things such people need is to be lectured or judged! They need safety and support and this will never happen as long as this stigma remains. This issue needs to keep being talked about.
          I can go on and on about stigma, but it is the reason so many of our social problems which we deplore, continue. It is because people "don't talk about these things" in the hope that by ignoring these issues, they soomehow will go away on their own. But there are many wounds that no amount of time will heal. We must talk about them and we must deal with them.