Mike King is a straight-up sort of guy. He calls a spade a spade. I don’t know him well, but whenever I’ve spent time with him his authenticity has radiated from his heart. King cares about mental health. He cares about saving lives. He cares about people. And he won’t waste his time with buck-passing Read more
Classically, both in the world and in our churches, we have seen despair as the ultimate, unforgivable sin. The simple notion was that neither God, nor anyone else, can save you if you simply give up, despair, make yourself impossible to reach. Most often in the popular mind this was applied to suicide. To die Read more
Pacific youth suicide is complex: There is no single explanation as to why our young people choose to die by their own hands. It is complex too for those of us who have experienced the loss of a loved one to suicide. We are consumed by the question ‘Why?’ and caught in self-blame and tortuous Read more
If it takes a village to raise a child then it takes one to kill a teenager, as well, or at least that is the premise of Netflix’s provocative new series, “13 Reasons Why,” based on Jay Asher’s 2007 book of the same name. The show depicts the series of events that led to the Read more
Suicide and depression and being turned into “sacrament dispensing machines” are part of an ongoing struggle for many Irish priests. Diocesan priests in Ireland are ““often pitied, patronised, reviled, insulted, disrespected, ignored and resented.” These words came from Fr Brendan Hoban at last week’s annual meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP). Abuse scandals Read more
My granddaughter killed herself because the rent was due. She was 21. She left her parents a note. In part it read: “I’m about to do something ungodly. I’m sorry.” In retrospect, she was hell-bent on self-harm. I don’t know what her body did to offend her, but for the last half decade of her Read more
The family of a depressed New Zealand man who committed suicide in Sydney have expressed alarm over the ease with which he was able to order and import lethal drugs using information from a pro-voluntary euthanasia group. The drug used is believed to be the same one involved in a police investigation in New Zealand Read more
New Zealand has the highest rate of teen suicide in the developed world, an OECD report reiterates. Despite the alarming information the report revealed nothing new. New Zealand continuously ranked among the worst in the world for our levels of teen suicide. In a normal week two teenagers or two children kill themselves, Youthline director Read more
“Suicide is no more a taboo word which is not mentioned within our society,” said Papali’i Carol Ah Chong, Executive Director of Fataua Le Ola. (FLO) On Saturday Samoa joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day, in an effort to stop people ending their own lives. Ah Chong said, ” Read more
Sarah Higgins’ funeral took place on Thursday at the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Moukaraka, on the northern side of the Hokianga Harbour. Higgins died suddenly on the weekend and her body was taken home to her parents near Pawarenga, in Northland. The 25 -year-old was a real estate agent for Barfoot Read more