Thread by @JennMGreenberg

Often, if we become suicidal, we believe our loved ones would be happier or better off without us. We think dying is doing them a favor. That's a lie. Remembering how they need us, and will feel heartbrokenly guilty that they weren't there to stop us, is vital. #PTSD #Suicide

I've found that suicidal thoughts are often a sort of delusion - really a lie from Satan - that somehow your death is better and easier for others than your life. It's a powerful, dangerous illusion. You become disassociated from reality. You have to snap yourself out of the lie.

God is familiar with suicidal depression. In Jonah 4, the prophet says, "Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live … It would be better for me to die than to live … I’m so angry I wish I were dead."

Jonah was angry because he feared God was not just.

God had had mercy on the Ninevites, a pagan nation of wicked people who deserved God's wrath and justice. Yet rather than burn them into ash, like Sodom and Gomorrah, God saved Nineveh and forgave them. This made Jonah angry.

I love God's response to Jonah. I'll paraphrase:

"Jonah, you love the wild flowers of the field, which today bloom but tomorrow die (Matt 6:30). So, why shouldn't I love 120K people created in my image? And think of all the animals!"

God appeals to Jonah's love of nature, pointing out Nineveh contained "many animals." (4:11)

We are blessed with a sympathetic God.

He chases after us when we run away.

He is faithful when we are not.

He consoles us in our deepest fear, anger, and sin.

God reaches into our despair and mess.

He is with us in deathly danger, deathly sin, and deathly thoughts.

PS: Apparently some people think my statement, "You have to snap yourself out of the lie," means medication isn't a valid option. This is ignorant. If you don't snap yourself out of the lie, you'll never ask for help, talk to a doctor, or get medication.

When I was suicidal, I didn't want help. I didn't ask for help. The only reason I'm alive right now, is because I realized somehow that death was not ideal. If suicidal people don't grasp that, they'll never ask for your help. We must snap ourselves out of the lie, or we die.

This is not insensitive or deceptive. It's a fact. If you never realize you need help you won't get help. If you don't grasp that you need medication you won't ask. Suicidal people must fiercely remind themselves that their life MATTERS.

It's a battle - a war - against despair.

And to be honest, I'm exhausted of people who have never been through traumatic events or mental illness trying to pretentiously explain the appropriate way to handle pain and depression. Just stop. It's 100X worse than mansplaining. I beg you; sit down, be quiet, and listen.

Honestly, to survive suicidal thoughts, you have to be as strong as a mountain. It's a warped perspective, a delusion that is absolutely demonic (and possibly also chemical). People aren't one dimensional. You must treat the body and the soul; the mind, heart, and spirit.

Regarding the ridiculous notion that it's minimizing to describe, "My loved ones would be better off if I didn't exist," as a lie from Satan, here is a thread:

https://twitter.com/JennMGreenberg/status/1169622030565683200?s=20

And yes, I'm frustrated. I'm angry. No one does depressed or suicidal people favors by assuming their pain is an easy fix. RX can help, but even then, there are spiritual battles. We are not broken objects that need repair. We are human beings who need ongoing grace and love.