Today is the second day of September, a month that marks the beginnings of a new school year with whispers of the heartwarming fall season. Cooler days beckon us with promises of nicer weather, changing colors, the smell of fresh-fallen leaves and bonfires, hot chocolate, and the coming holiday season.
But September is also National Suicide Prevention Month. We have a whole month—one out of twelve—devoted to suicide prevention. While some national holidays may be slightly absurd (do we really need a National Donut Day?), this is not one of them.
Suicide rates increased over 25% from 1999 to 2016. There are, on average, 130 suicides per day in our country. A disproportionate number of these occur among adolescents and young adults—while suicide is the tenth leading cause of death among Americans, it is the second leading cause among 10-34-year-olds. In June of 2021, the CDC reported that one-in-four 18-24-year-olds seriously contemplated suicide during the first year of the pandemic. One in four!
Suicide is just one aspect of the mental health crisis in our country. There’s also anxiety, depression, trauma, abuse, eating disorders, addictions.
Is your heart breaking yet? Mine is. Do you feel the heaviness? Do you grasp the depth of despair and hopelessness people feel every day? Do you see what Satan is doing—can you trace the devastating lair of lies he is speaking over God’s creation?
Mental Health Among Missouri College Students
Let’s bring it closer to home. The Missouri Partners in Prevention reported in their 2021 data brief that among MO college students,
- In the past year, 7.4% used illegal drugs (not including cannabis) while 6.4% used prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription, and 29% of those misusing drugs combined them with alcohol at least once.
- 25% have experienced nonconsensual sexual contact in their lifetime, and 5.7% have experienced it in the past year.
- 15% experienced physical, emotional, or other abuse in relationships in the past year.
- 37% rated their stress level as overwhelming or unbearable, up from 24% in 2020.
- In the last year, 64% experienced anxiety, 35% experienced major depression, 30% experienced panic attacks, and 25% have chronic sleep issues.
- 43% were diagnosed with at least one mental health issue in the past year.
These are self-reported statistics, so these numbers are likely significantly lower than reality. I have been checking these reports annually for several years, and each year, the picture looks worse. While some might argue the statistics rise every year simply because we’re talking about these things more openly and measuring more sensitively, it doesn’t change the fact that our young adults are hurting, lonely, and anxious.
An Anxious Generation Z
This generation was born in a 9/11 world. Their childhood was marked by instability: the fear of terrorism and a country at war for two decades, the Great Recession, a new era of confusion surrounding gender and sexuality, outcry over racial injustice, distrust of institutions, political polarization, a social media world that idolizes perceived perfection while hindering the development of genuine relationships, and a digital age that puts every global tragedy before their eyes. Then, just as it’s time for them to go to college, secure a good job, and figure out their futures, they are hit with a novel virus creating a global pandemic of a scale we haven’t seen in a century leading to the greatest (and fastest) economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Is it any surprise that Gen Z is being characterized as risk-averse with mental health issues increasing exponentially? They are left to navigate all this instability in a world that provides no real answers, in a culture that rejects THE answer, on campuses that challenge any notion of certainty and truth.
The Reality of Mental Health on Our Campuses
Friends, mental health is real. It is all around us. And if we’re honest, many of us in ministry, whether vocationally or not, have experienced some form of it ourselves. We don’t like to talk about it. We don’t like to admit how broken we really are, how the Fall affects every single facet of life—including every function of our bodies and emotions.
Because of our discomfort, our shame, our judgmentalism, or our lack of understanding, we mark mental health and trauma as taboo. We downplay them or dismiss them entirely. We cover them in cliches. Or we swing to the other side and tap into the world’s empty explanations and temporary solutions, then wonder why we (or the people around us) never find the hope and healing we long for.
Our college students are hurting. They are harassed and helpless. They need us to give them space—safe space—to acknowledge what they are feeling and experiencing. They need us to step into their pain points with them, set aside labels and our personal opinions on how to classify mental health, and simply acknowledge that their pain is real. Their experience of brokenness in this world is legitimate. They need us to validate with them that sometimes, it is overwhelming—even for us as ministry leaders.
But we can’t stop there. We can’t let the world give them empty explanations and temporary solutions. They need us to dig deep into the messy and cry out to God for answers alongside them. They need us to wrestle with them through Scripture and how their faith and mental health intersect. They need us to give them something else—hope and help, both of which are ultimately found in the person, work, and presence of Jesus Christ.
Navigating mental health with compassion, care, pragmatic help, and biblical clarity is messy. It’s difficult. There is no one-and-done answer or simple 5-step process. The road to healing is tumultuous (and often not complete on this side of our King’s return, though we cling to the promise of victory in the end).
Dare we admit it, most of us feel woefully ill-equipped to deal with these things. We weren’t trained in trauma care. We don’t know what to do when a student expresses suicidal ideation. We feel limited in our ability to apply what we know to be true in Scripture compassionately and practically to their situation and lived experience, especially when our own is different.
But we can’t ignore these issues. As Abel’s blood cried out silently from the ground, speaking to the atrocity of Cain’s murder, so mental health cries out silently (and not-so-silently) all around us, speaking to the atrocity of the brokenness of our world. We must give a voice to those who are hurting. We must be prepared to walk with them well. We must be ready to fight our very real enemy in this specific area.
Focusing on Mental Health in College Ministry
Over the next month, to coincide with National Suicide Prevention Month, The Collegiate DiscipleMaker will focus on these issues in our college ministry context. Since our aim is to be an equipping resource as you minister to college students and young adults, we’re hoping these articles will help you be better prepared to love, serve, understand, and walk alongside them.
Read these articles. Share the articles. Discuss them with your students and ministry leaders. Be moved to compassion as Jesus was when He saw the crowds, harassed and helpless, without a shepherd. Love the college students and young adults in your life without judgment. Shepherd them toward the truth that sets them free. Above all, pray like crazy.
And remember, if you yourself are struggling, there is help and hope for you, too. You are human, and you are not alone.
