The Suicide Belt #12

Before Thanksgiving Break, I attended a concert on BYU campus. My friend invited me to the concert to support his singing group. I went with a good friend expecting to just see a little bit of singing and dancing. When I arrived I was surprised to see that the concert was trying to raise money for suicide prevention. Before the concert began the singers began to talk about the high suicide rates in the United States. I was shocked to discover that Utah had one of the highest suicide rates in the country. We were shown a map of the USA and directed to a dark area called the Suicide Belt. The Suicide Belt is a part of America where the is a unusually hight amount of suicided per year. It included all of the states above, below and to the sides of Utah.

As I listened to the commentator I couldn't help but be surprised at that statistic. Utah is in the top ten for suicides? I couldn't believe it. As I have been reflecting on that statistic these past few days I have come to several conclusions. They may not be accurate but I think there may be some substance to it. I think that living in a Mormon culture is hard. There are so many expectations from parents, wards, and stakes that many kid feel too overwhelmed. I remember speaking with a friend of mine who was a member about this very topic. She was a good person, but she felt the stress of not measuring up. She experienced feeling of heartache and had made several attempts to end her life. It was hard for me to help her, there wasn't much I could do. I don't believe that the church has anything to do with the rate of suicide, I know that they offer many ways to council those who have problems with self esteem, but I do believe there are many who feel like they cannot deal with the social pressures and fly off the deep end. This is a sensitive topic but I am so grateful for the blessing of the gospel and the aid it offers us when we find ourselves in the darkest hours of our existence.