hope & purpose
-Dr. Joyce Brown,
“The Hope Doctor”
Stress, anxiety, depression, and grief—these are all grave problems in and of themselves. But what makes it all so much worse is that, left untreated, any one of these complex conditions could easily lead to the most devastating, heart-breaking tragedy of them all. In fact, that is exactly what is happening over and over again, minute after minute, throughout the world. People from every background, and nearly every age are making the devastating decision to take their own lives. Consider some of the following statistics from the WHO (World Health Organization), and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention):
How much the suicide rate increased in the U.S. between 1999 and 2023.
How much time passes before there is another death by suicide in the world.
In the U.S., suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for those ages 10 to 24.
For those in the 10 to 24 age group living in the Rocky Mountains, suicide is the leading (#1) cause of death. For the rest of the world in this age group, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death. And suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. for all ages. While suicide continues to plague our world, the good news is…