A Calculated Departure: Understanding Why People Choose to Die by Suicide

Robin Williams, the person who made all of us laugh, Van Gogh, who went down as one of the best painters in our history, and Judas Iscariot, who had the privilege to walk alongside with Jesus, all have one thing is common; all three took their own lives. Parasuicidal behaviors and completed suicides are far too common in people who see no hope in the future and especially those with borderline personality disorders.

In fact, people with borderline personality disorder are more likely to commit suicide compared to those in the general population. There are several factors that may explain why people choose to die by suicide but psychobabble our way to explain suicide alone is not adequate in our churches and in our community. The topic of suicide and other related mental health issues must be relevant in the churches across the country. It must not be hidden within the church and ignoring serious mental health issues such as suicide only makes the church irrelevant to the community it serves. Pastors, church leaders, and congregation must be aware and be equipped to help those who have serious mental health issues such as those contemplating suicide and those who lost a loved one because of suicide.

The first part of the presentation will look at a case study and then followed by addressing the key areas that potentially drive a person to suicide;

1. a sense of hopelessness,
2. feeling of being abandoned,
3. feeling isolated, and
4. habituation to pain.

The second part of the presentation will focus on suicidality in borderline personality disorder. The presenter will delve into borderline personality disorder and its four subcategories.

The presentation ends with discussions on how to work with people with borderline personality disorder, people contemplating suicide and helping those who have lost a loved one to suicide. This six-hour presentation will include case studies of completed suicides and attempters, discussion on the impact of suicide on family members, a case analysis of an individual with severe borderline issues and will be sprinkled with role playing throughout the training.

Learning Objectives

Participants able to:

1. Identify possible causes and factors for suicidal thoughts / para-suicidal behaviors
2. Be able to assess and explore strategies to help those with suicidal tendencies and those who lost a loved one to suicide.
3. Analyze and learn from current research on suicide.
4. Defining borderline personality disorder
5. Managing suicide risk in borderline personality disorder