Thomas Griffin 6/1/23
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This April, the Pew Charitable Trusts, released a video that highlights some of the reasons for the skyrocketing rates of suicide in America today. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention there are, on average, 130 suicides per day in the United States. Over 45,000 Americans die of suicide each year and there are over one million suicide attempts ever year.
Among the largest reasons include feelings of hopelessness and isolation. Even though we are out of the shutdowns of the pandemic, feelings of loneliness are prominent in the human condition – they always have been. Contemporary men and women attempt to heal these feelings through an increase in screen time or numb them through alcohol, drugs, or ignoring their feelings altogether. The answer, however, is found in a reality that is being left behind. The antidote is a life of faith.
Stanford University anthropologist, Tanya Luhrmann, wrote a book about how faith makes us healthier – physically, emotionally and psychologically. How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others. In an review of her work, an article in Stanford news noted:
“Research has repeatedly shown that people of faith report feeling better and healthier. One of the most striking findings in social epidemiology, Luhrmann notes, is that religious involvement with God is better for your body in terms of immune functions and reducing loneliness. One explanation for this, Luhrmann writes, is that for those with an intense faith, God becomes a social relationship. MRI results indicate that in terms of brain function, talking to God resembles conversing with a friend.”
When all else is lost in someone’s life they often do not need medication or expensive therapy. What they need is faith. They need to know that they are loved infinitely by the God of the universe and that they exist to be in a relationship with Him. It is this relationship that has the greatest capacity to convey the fact that we are made out of love and for love. The Latin word religare, where we receive our word “religion” literally means “a binding relationship.” research has shown that making this relationship central to your life leads to greater feelings of fulfillment and happiness.
Do you ever feel lonely? Every single person on the face of the earth would have to respond affirmatively if they were honest. Have you ever truly considered whether or not your life has value or if it is worth going on? Many, many Americans would also say, yes. According to Lifeway Research, 63% of Americans wonder if their life can have more meaning on a regular basis.
The antidote is that we need each other, and that we need God. We need meaningful relationships. The science of the brain literally confirms what thousands of years of the Bible has accounted for: the more we run away from God the more likely we are to question our worth. Statistically, America has never been less faithful and Americans have never been more suicidal. This is no coincidence.
Human beings are made for relationships, and when we neglect our relationship with God and our most important relationships (spouses and children) everything else falls apart. The Catholic Church has a place to lead in this arena and it should do so by empowering lay Catholics to enter their families and places of work on fire with the Presence and Truth of Christ. That is how we inspire others to see that life is worth living and is worth living with purpose.
There is nothing more life altering than choosing to take one’s own life. It is when we are experiencing feelings of deep loneliness or depression that we must never make such decisions. Similar to driving through a great storm, sometimes the windshield wipers can never go fast enough for us to see clearly. We must wait out the storm and cling to others. Catholics must be the refuge our world needs to wait out the storm.
As the rates of religious observance and importance continue to plummet, we will continue to see soaring rates of suicide and depression. In order to spin these in the right direction, and save lives, we must return to faith and know that a relationship with God is the number one leading cause to a life filled with the deep confidence that we are never alone.
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has a masters degree in theology and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine.
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