Stories tagged with: suicide
Found 31 stories matching your search criteria.Displaying page 1 of 4 total pages.
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Suicide: Churches awaken to persistent crisis
HUSTONVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- Pastor Andrew McGinnis still remembers his "solemn drive" home on June 25, 1995.
iStockThen 4 years old, McGinnis had been attending a family reunion in Tennessee with his mother and two older brothers while his father Dan, pastor of Double Springs Baptist Church in Waynesburg, Ky., carried out his normal weekend duties at the church. But Dan McGinnis never arrived at church that Sunday morning. Members found him dead in the parsonage -- a victim of suicide. Evidence suggested ministerial stress and undiagnosed mental illness may have been contributing factors.
Confused and angry, McGinnis told himself as a child, "I won't be a pastor because I don't want to end up like my dad." But 23 years later, McGinnis has answered God's call to ministry and is in his third year as pastor of Hustonville (Ky.) Baptist Church. Read More
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Study shows troubling picture of teens, mental health
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Mental health struggles and thoughts of suicide may be more common than church leaders realize -- even among some of the youngest members of a congregation.
iStockAround 1 in 3 high school students (31.5 percent) say they've experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Additionally, 17.2 percent say they've seriously considered attempting suicide, while 13.6 percent say they've made a suicide plan, 7.4 percent have attempted suicide, and 2.4 percent were injured in a suicide attempt. Read More
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MOVIES: Hollywood, what say ye about suicide?
It's been analyzed innumerable times, but "It's a Wonderful Life" has something to say about the rash of suicides in America, Phil Boatwright reflects. Read More
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Assisted suicide blocked for now in Calif.
WASHINGTON (BP) -- A county judge invalidated California's physician-assisted suicide law Tuesday (May 15) but did not rule the lethal practice unconstitutional.
iStockDaniel Ottolia, a Superior Court judge in Riverside County, struck down the state's End of Life Option Act, saying legislators defied California law by passing the measure during a special session called to address health care issues, supporters and opponents of the 2015 law said, according to the Los Angeles Times. Ottolia provided state Attorney General Xavier Becerra with five days to appeal the ruling and keep the law in effect. Read More
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Assisted suicide dies in 2 New England states
WASHINGTON (BP) -- Legislative efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide have failed in two New England states, but Hawaii appears to be on the verge of enacting the practice.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.If Hawaii legalizes assisted suicide, it will become the seventh state to do so, following California, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington -- as well as the District of Columbia.
"Assisted suicide is an assault on dignity," Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore ... Read More
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Suicide: Church response to tough topic studied
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Suicide remains a taboo subject in many Protestant churches, despite the best efforts of pastors, according to a new study.
Eight in 10 Protestant senior pastors believe their church is equipped to intervene with someone who is threatening suicide, according to a study released Sept. 29 from LifeWay Research. Yet few people turn to the church for help before taking their own lives, according to their churchgoing friends and family.
Only 4 percent of churchgoers who have lost a close friend or family member to suicide say church leaders were aware of their loved one's struggles. Read More
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Future of assisted suicide in D.C. in Senate's hands
WASHINGTON (BP) -- The continuation of legalized, physician-assisted suicide in the country's capital awaits the determination of the U.S. Senate.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.The House of Representatives nullified the District of Columbia's Death With Dignity Act as part of an immense spending bill it approved Sept. 14. Representatives included a block on the 2016 D.C. measure as an amendment to legislation they passed 211-198.
Opponents and supporters of assisted suicide are waiting to see if the Senate will include the amendment revoking the D.C. law when it acts on the same spending proposal. The final version of the legislation will still need the signature of President Trump. Read More
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Child suicide bombings by Boko Haram at all-time high
NORTHEAST NIGERIA (BP) -- Boko Haram's abuse of children as suicide bombers is at an all-time high in the Lake Chad region including northeast Nigeria and neighboring countries, UNICEF said Aug. 22.
Photo by UNICEF/GilbertsonThe jihadists have murdered at least 83 children since January by strapping them with bombs before sending them into public gathering places and detonating the explosives, UNICEF said in its press release.
About 55 of the victims were girls under the age of 15, as girls often become ... Read More
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Journal: assisted suicide about 'autonomy,' not pain
TORONTO (BP) -- A report on physician-assisted suicide in Canada appears to support claims by opponents of the practice that it is driven by a desire for personal autonomy rather than pain management.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.A study published May 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found 95 percent of patients to receive medical aid in dying (MAiD) through Toronto's University Health Network between March 2016 and March 2017 cited "loss of autonomy" as a reason for the request to end their lives. No other reason was cited as frequently. The article's seven coauthors wrote that "few patients cited ... Read More
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Netflix suicide series buzz alive, opinions vary
NASHVILLE (BP) -- A streamed Netflix series dramatizing the fictional story of a teen's suicide has drawn disparate reactions from secular and Christian sectors in the U.S. and abroad as the show's popularity continues strong.
Image: iStock/license purchase required.Netflix strengthened viewer warnings May 1 regarding the content of the series, "13 Reasons Why," after cries of possible "suicide contagion" and the glamorization of suicide spilled from religious, educational and clinical sectors within the U.S. and as far away as Australia and New Zealand. Conversely, others have said the series that debuted March 31 opens the airways for honest discussion of suicide's causes ... Read More
