Mental Health Month

Good morning Wesley Cove church. this morning we’re going to be discussing the subject to mental health. I know that is not the subject that many of us would like to talk about on Sunday morning, but I have a question for you that I really want you to consider if we don’t discuss it here in church, where will it be discussed?

I don’t believe it’s been discussed in our local schools. My theory is it will not be discussed by any family until they’re affected by it so maybe maybe the church is the best place to do that. Why would we discuss it in the local church, because if you cannot be real and honest and Church about your feelings, where can you be honest and real do we need to discuss it well according to recent statistics one in four Americans will struggle with mental health. That means on any given Sunday, someone in our church is having that struggle. Also according to recent studies the rate of depression in the United States is grown by 29%. And it is showing no signs of slowing down.

Another alarming fact is 35% of adults who have depression will not get help. Partly that is due to the stigma attached to it, some of that is due to the fact they don't know where to turn for help.

In recent decades the suicide rate has gone up 30%.

If for no other reasons the church needs to address mental health.

We have a choice, are we going to be a fake church that pertains like everything is okay or will we be a true real church and recognize that good Christian people suffer from depression.

The church has a real opportunity to be in ministry to people who are struggling with depression and other forms of mental health.

1 Kings 19:1–11 ESV

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

Globally, over 700,000 people who take theirown lives every year.*

In the United States alone, 48,183 died by suicide.**

For every person who completed suicide, there are 35 more who have attempted suicide

Suicide is the second leading cause of death

among youth. An estimated 12.3 million adults seriously

thought about suicide.

An estimated 3.5 million made a plan

An estimated 1.7 million attempted suicide.

Suicide rates in 2021 were 35% higher than in 2000

More women attempt suicide than men but more men complete suicide than women.

The demographic group with the highest number of suicides are people over 75.

The fastest growing segment of the population when it comes to suicide are young adults aged 15 to 24.

There is an epidemic of loneliness in the United States and lacking connection can increase the risk for premature death to levels comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to a new advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General.