Between 1999 and 2019, suicide rose 35.2% in the United States.  Also according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WISQARS Leading Causes of Death Reports, in 2019:

• Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the U.S., claiming 47,500 lives.
• Suicide was the second leading cause of death for those age 10 to 34, and fourth for 35 to 44.
• Suicides (47,511) more than doubled homicides (19,141) in the U.S.

Apparently China has a much higher suicide rate, something like 22 out of 100,000 in China to 16 out of 100,000 in the U.S.  The United States is climbing there.  It was at 9 in 1999.  China hired an evangelical pastor I know to provide a curriculum to prevent suicides.  It didn’t have answers in its own worldview.  China still won’t allow the Bible, but so helpless to stop the suicides in its young people, it permits a presentation that offers principles without the scripture references.

I talked to a believing Delta airline pilot.  He faces great pressure to capitulate to woke philosophy with a threat of cancellation.  Co-workers use the woke system to attempt to entrap the non-woke for firing.  It reminded him of what occurred as an Air Force officer, when the leadership found itself facing multiplying suicides among officers and enlisted.  The top men called bullying the cause and softness the remedy.

People hear more now with the internet, so they know more.  They hear more about suicide and those threatening it.  Statistics though show the percentages rising.  This isn’t just greater information.  It’s real.  What is happening?

First, contentment and joy come from internal spiritual strength.  God gives peace and satisfaction.  Jesus said in John 14:27 and 16:33:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

On the contrary, Isaiah wrote in 48:22 and 57:21:

There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

Likewise, he wrote in 59:8:

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

The things of the world and superficial pleasures will not fill inner longing.  Only God will.

No one can put a bandaid over a spiritual problem and expect it to work.  The world offers bandaids.  A standing in God’s grace will ward off suicidal ideations.  John describes this as overcoming the world.  Satan and the world system tend toward death.  God gives abundant life, which safeguards against this bad thinking.

With God as his highest value, a believer soaks in satisfaction.  He does not look for or need the approval of social media.  He finds pleasure in the will of God, not moved by worldly fads and popular notions.

Second, a death culture promulgates suicide.  China is a death culture.  The United States has become one.  A death culture proceeds from at least two related causes.   One, untethered from God it devalues His gift of life.  The righteousness of God protects the right to live.  Abortion manifests the divide from God.  Two, taking life strikes at the image of God.  A society that values God renders to Him the things that are His.  A life is not man’s to take.

Third, the victim mentality justifies suicide.  Eve was not a victim, but Satan got her thinking that way.  This justified what she did.  It brought forth death.  God through Ezekiel denounces this mentality in Israel (Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32).  The children said their teeth were set on edge because their fathers ate sour grapes.

A rudiment of wokeness is someone else made me a victim.  Satan perpetuates this lie, because he wants people to kill themselves.  His marks sink down into self-pity under false delusions.  Instead of exposing this lie, other professing victims bolster it, reinforcing their victimhood.  Among others, this lie feeds the popularity of the left in the United States.  The left shrivels and disappears without victim mentality.

Short of suicide, people look for solace in drugs, alcohol, and worldly lust.  Not everyone kills themselves, but they still live in a sad, dark existence, attempting to keep their head above water.  Solomon said this world is vanity and vexation of spirit, so that the answer is not below the sun, but above it.  Find peace in God, His truth and goodness.

I hope for less suicide and the threat of it.  Under the temptation, God provides the way of escape.  The answer is in Him.  Everything else is a placebo for temporal inoculation, but it will not stop the spread of suicide.