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Need to enlighten you a little bit there. This gets very personal for me, but I think I need to go there. I am a bible-believing, bible-proffessing, born-again Christian, who by NO fault of my own has suffered with severe OCD/depression for over 20yrs. My illness is NO different then my father's diabetes that he suffers with. His is genetic and so in mine. He needs meds to function and so do I.

However, before I was diagnosed, thoughts of suicide would race through my brain. At NO time while that was happening, did I question my faith, lack faith, or turn my back on Christ. In fact, I leaned on Him more than in any other time of my life. YET, the thoughts were still there. Why? It was NOT from lack of faith or distance from God. It was simply the disease effecting my rational thought. During depressive episodes, serotonin is not produced in the brain in adequate amounts and, in short, your brain is firing but not make necessary neurological connections that are needed for clear and rational thought.

PLEASE, I implore you to take time out and inform yourself regarding mental illness.

While I am sure you meant, no offense, so none was taken, it is the prevailing thought within the body of Christ, such as yours, that suppresses the suffering Christian to seek help from fellow believers.

I suppose one could make a case from Jesus’s statement that if your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off. Better to go into life blind or maimed than, being whole, cast into ever lasting fire. What if someone perceives that his very existence offends him and wants to take himself out before he sins?

>>>>While I am sure you meant, no offense, so none was taken, it is the prevailing thought within the body of Christ, such as yours, that suppresses the suffering Christian to seek help from fellow believers

Thanks for sharing your struggles with us.

There is a strong taboo in Christian Churches, against Christians who suffer from deep depression, especially those who have suicidal feelings.

The general stereotype is that, suicidal feelings are associated with people in the secular world, because of their lack of faith in Christ. But we are told that coming to Christ ends such suffering, and one is supposed to live happily ever after, because of the joy that comes with knowing Christ.

But many in the churches fail to acknowledge that chemical imbalances in the brain cause depression and suicidal feelings, and they can affect Christians and non-Christians alike. It is very important that we built a culture whereby, Christians can confess their pain and suffering to fellow believers, without being accused of insufficient faith.

I’m well aware of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and the reasons for taking them. There are several food sources that also supply the same results such as ginseng and St. John’s wort. A little caution with St. John’s wort if taking antidepressants though. Most often dietary changes result in better and longer term results with less problems.

Nothing in a Christians walk precludes taking advantage of medical advances. Nothing was said about not taking into account medical or neurological conditions. Faith also includes relying sometimes on fellow Christians to be God’s instruments.

Exactly!
Suicide is NOT an immoral death apart from God. It is death due to disease no different than death from cancer.
Depression is a GENETIC disease.
God welcomes those into heaven who have blown their brains out just as much as He welcomes those who die from pneumonia.
God also welcomes those who kill themselves because they feel they have no other choice, such as those who jumped from the Twin Towers because they felt they had NO other option.
It’s a fact.