Mental health disorders are comprised of a variety of factors that may have an outsized impact on someone’s emotional health, their psychological well-being, and their social relationships. Mental health disorders may manifest in wild mood swings, behavioral issues, and a negative change in a person’s reasoning powers. These changes often impact everyday life. For example, mental health disorders may affect a person’s ability to remain gainfully employed, withstand life’s pressures, and maintain personal relationships. It is during such alarming times that people do well to turn to spiritual leaders to help resolve crises involving faith, mental health, and suicide.
Types of Mental Health Disorders
Mental health disorders include, but are not limited to, the following conditions:
- Depression – refers to a state of constant sadness, often characterized by loss of interest in favorite activities
- Anxiety – refers to a heightened state of stress that interferes with daily life
- Eating Disorders – refers to unhealthy eating habits, such as bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating
- Substance Abuse – refers to unhealthy levels of alcohol or drug abuse
- Schizophrenia – refers to the mental health condition in which patients often hallucinate or experience delusions.
Why Depression Is a Precursor to Suicide
Everyone has had experience with bouts of sadness. Whether the sadness results from the loss of a loved one, the death of a pet, or the denial of a school award or much-needed scholarship, a sad person feels temporary sorrow, unhappiness. The unhappiness lasts from a few hours to a few days and lessens over time.
Clinical depression, on the other hand, is a major depressive disorder that therapists believe is the result of a complex combination of biological, psychological, and external factors. This form of depression does not lessen over time. It is a persistent condition lasting at least two weeks and carries the following symptoms of major depressive disorder:
- Lack of interest in favorite activities
- Eating and sleeping habits affected (eating or sleeping too much or too little)
- Impacts everyday activities, such as school, work, personal relationships, and physical and mental well-being
- Requires diagnosis by a mental health professional and professional mental health treatment
- Associated with an increased risk of suicide.
Major depressive disorder may increase the risk of suicide because it comes with a break from the stabilizing influence of a person’s typical friendships and family relationships. Such depression results in a closing event horizon, causing many to lose hope in the future. The loss of hope in one’s future heightens the risk of suicidal thoughts.
In addition, sufferers may abuse alcohol or drugs more often and at higher doses. Other sufferers may engage in dangerous, risky behavior like driving faster than recommended in inappropriate venues.
Why Anxiety Is an Increased Risk for Suicide
Anxiety disorders take several forms. When analyzing suicide risks, panic disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are both recognized as independent factors by mental health practitioners for both suicide attempts and fatal suicides. PTSD is a severe, disabling disorder that has a high association with suicide attempts. This is important to note because anxiety disorders are undertreated and underdiagnosed.
This consequence means that society and mental health professionals in general should take anxiety disorders seriously and encourage treatment to avoid lifetime suicide attempts. It is not appropriate to discount anxiety disorders when it comes to a history of suicide attempts. Studies have shown an independent link between PTSD and panic disorder to their association with suicidal thoughts and a history of suicide attempts.
Why Schizophrenia Is an Increased Risk for Suicide
Schizophrenia may include hallucinations and delusions. Some sufferers may experience hallucinations that command self-harm or suicide, a direct threat to their physical well-being. Major depression episodes are a common component of schizophrenia and increase the risk of suicide.
The use of drugs or alcohol worsens the symptoms of the mental condition and impairs judgment, resulting in an increased risk of suicide. Other social stressors, such as the loss of friendships or family relationships, unemployment, and other losses or rejections, foster instability and increase the risk of suicide.
Eating Disorders Result in an Increased Risk for Suicide
It is important to recognize that your or a loved one’s eating disorder is a serious mental illness. Whether it is anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating, an eating disorder can lead to fatal consequences. According to the National Institutes of Health, suicide is the second-highest cause of death in cases of anorexia, and suicidal behavior levels increase in cases of bulimia. In some anorexia suicide cases, individuals suffered from lifelong bouts of major depressive disorder. In addition, substance abuse and severe anxiety were evident in the suicide results.
Faith and Mental Health and Suicide
While mental health disorders often exert a significant impact on daily lives, patients lead fruitful lives if they receive the proper treatment. Treatment may consist of therapy and/or medications. Therefore, mental health conditions require diagnosis and treatment by health professionals. The sooner treatment begins, the better the outcome.
Faith-based suicide support, for example, combines treatment by mental health professionals with practitioners who are part of a faith community. Important reasons exist to consider Christian counseling for the treatment of mental health issues and Christian suicide prevention.
Faith and mental health complement each other. Faith communities offer individuals the social support needed to combat feelings of isolation and hopelessness. Individuals facing mental health crises, such as suicidal thoughts, find that Christian suicide prevention techniques give them hope in crisis.
Christian Suicide Prevention Perspective
People suffering from suicidal thoughts live in a world filled with emotional pain. They feel alone, isolated from others, and unable to express their pain. They also feel unable to plan or devise a scheme to address the situation that causes them pain. Christian counseling, on the other hand, teaches that no one is alone. God’s presence in struggles provides strength to a person drowning alone under a terrible weight.
The pastor and the faith community provide the spiritual support necessary to try new coping strategies that help manage stress and other mental health disorders through prayer. In addition, faith communities often provide practical assistance, too. Churches often provide resources designed to teach parishioners how to survive a job interview or offer other practical assistance applicable to job searches. They may provide access to clothing appropriate for interviews at no charge or reasonable prices and food resources through community features like food pantries. Some even sponsor childcare through cooperative programs. All these services help individuals suffering from stress gain hope for the future.
Most importantly, combining faith and mental health can provide an at-risk individual with a sense of purpose. Having faith allows a person to see the bigger community picture instead of a world restricted to their private concerns. A sense of purpose is an antidote for depression and anxiety and provides hope in suicidal thoughts.
Why Choose Refinery Counseling Services
Refinery Counseling Services is the premier counseling service in Georgia. The firm seeks to empower individuals as they travel along their mental healthcare journey. We promise compassionate care and seek to provide community engagement for each patient. We believe every human being should be able to pursue personal growth and mental healing. We try each day to provide the resources for our patients to do so.
Refinery Counseling Services provides several options to choose from in terms of treatment:
- Individual psychotherapy
- Group psychotherapy
- Adolescent therapy
Individual Psychotherapy
You and your therapist will decide which form of therapy is best for you, based on your situation and your needs and goals. We are committed to designing therapy sessions that reflect the individual according to each person’s needs. Each therapy session lasts approximately 50 minutes. In general, the first few sessions will happen once or twice weekly. Just as each person is unique, the length of each therapy journey is unique.
Group Psychotherapy
Group therapy sessions consist of small groups of individuals who meet to share and discuss their experiences. We design group meetings to support each group member along their mental health journeys. Group therapy sessions take place with the guidance of a licensed therapist. These therapy sessions provide participants with the opportunity to make new social connections and to share insights with other members of the group.
Schedule a Therapy Session
If you, a loved one, or a friend faces depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues, we invite you to contact us today. Call or email us to schedule an appointment for a consultation with one of our therapists. Your therapist will review your background, assess your current situation, and discuss the goals you have for improving your mental health.
If you would like additional information on choosing the right therapist for you, we invite you to read the April 4, 2025, article entitled “Choosing the Right Therapist for You: A Step-by-Step Guide.”
For Further Information
You may also find this February 4, 2025, article of interest: “Therapy with a Faith Foundation: What Sets Us Apart”.
Remember: We believe you can achieve happiness and a fruitful life through faith in a mental health crisis. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
