by Beth Swain “I have a problem about wanting to die.” I struggled to get the words out while sounding casual. After months of thinking about suicide, this was my first attempt at talking about it. Maybe sounding casual would soften the impact of my disclosure in this, my first counseling session. Odd…
Read moreYear: 2010
Making Contact
by Anna R. Hageman “I don’t know what to do!” The caller’s voice was racked with anguish. “I can’t go on this way, and I can’t go back and do it again.” “Would you like to tell me what happened?” Diane Steward asked empathetically. Within an hour she had learned of the caller’s financial,…
Read moreMaking Contact – Techniques
Techniques CONTACT people have used to save lives: Be supportive. Let the troubled person know he has done the right thing in talking to you. Non-judgmentally, empathetically, assure him you care about him, no matter what his situation may be. Encourage him to talk. Talking is a God-given relief. Try to discover his past…
Read moreLife, Death, and Euthanasia
by Kimn Swenson Gollnick When Eleanor James’ father developed esophageal cancer in 1990, questions about compassion for the dying and assisted suicide leaped out of the news and became reality for her family. As her father’s health deteriorated, they admitted him into hospice care. Eleanor and her family visited him daily. She later wrote…
Read moreLife, Death, and Euthanasia-Resources
Footnotes Eleanor James, Christian American, “When Dad Asked to Die,” March/April 1997, p. 31, 32 International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force (online report), http://www.iaetf.org/jk.htm, p. 1 Dr. Diane M. Komp, Christianity Today, “The Battle over Assisted Death is Just Starting,” November/December 1997, p.1 (http://www.christianity.net) International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force (online report), http://www.iaetf.org/fctholl.htm, p. 2 Ibid. Diane M. Gianelli,…
Read moreInside the Suicidal Person
by Susan J. Shelley “What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” — Colette [1] On a warm May evening in 1996, Jamie*, a 36-year-old divorcee with two adolescent daughters, committed suicide in her home. So distraught over the course of her life, she decided to end her misery….
Read moreInside the Suicidal Person – Resources
Footnotes Believing in Ourselves: The Wisdom of Women Copyright © 1992. Armand Eisen, Andrews and McMeel a University Press Syndicate Co. CD-ROM “Suicide,” Microsoft Encarta © 1994. Microsoft Corporation, contributed by Jack D. Douglas and Frank Allen Jones Jr. CD-ROM Mosby Medical Encyclopedia © 1995 and San Francisco Suicide Prevention Web page © 1996. http://www.sfsuicide.org….
Read moreDying for Control
by Kimn Swenson Gollnick “Can you come with me?” my mother’s tearful voice asked over the phone. “Grandpa’s dying.”The hospital had sent her father home with medication to make him as comfortable as possible. My aunt and cousin had already moved in with him to provide around-the-clock care. My mother felt she should be…
Read moreDying for Control – Natural process
There’s a natural process to death that assisted suicide may cut short. In her book On Death and Dying (MacMillan, 1969), Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross devotes a chapter to each stage of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression (when the dying patient is most susceptible to assisted suicide), and finally acceptance. Dr. Kubler-Ross concludes that “….
Read moreAll the King’s Men
by Douglas Raymond Rose A rainy day in Texas. The winter wind blew briskly on the wet gravesite. Those of us standing there sang “Amazing Grace” with more true grit than we’d ever mustered before. I didn’t want to believe Tom was dead. He was only 27 years old and hadn’t been sick a…
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