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Mental Health

  • Writer: Profiles in Catholicism
    Profiles in Catholicism
  • May 27
  • 20 min read

Updated: Jun 3


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Message from the Editor

I went to West Aurora High School in my sophomore year. At lunch one day, I sat across from a girl and we were talking when she said “You should be a psychologist”. So when I went to Loyola University, I majored in psychology. While I was doing my graduate work in psychology evenings at DePaul University, I worked at Michael Reese Hospital and spent some time in their psychiatric unit. When one of their patients committed suicide, I decided I could never take the risk of caring for a person who might commit suicide, so I gave up my plans to e a psychologist.


According to the North America Information Hub, US Suicide Rates Reach Record Highs in 2024,The World Heath Organization  reports that "While the link between suicide and mental disorders (in particular, depression and alcohol use disorders) is well established in high-income countries, many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis with a breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses, such as financial problems, relationship break-up or chronic pain and illness.

 

In addition, experiencing conflict, disaster, violence, abuse, or loss and a sense of isolation are strongly associated with suicidal behavior. Suicide rates are also high amongst vulnerable groups who experience discrimination, such as refugees and migrants; indigenous peoples; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) persons; and prisoners. By far the strongest risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt."


We should all be deeply concerned about the increasing rate of teen suicides. Teen suicide is a serious and growing concern, with suicide being the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24. Approximately 20% of high school students seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. In he United States, around 9.5% of high school students attempted suicide in the past year. Females are more likely to attempt suicide than males .Males are four times more likely to die by suicide than females.


Suicide rates are highest among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. AI/AN youth are more likely to seriously consider or attempt suicide compared to other racial or ethnic groups. Suicide rates among Black youth have also significantly increased.


LGBTI youth are at a significantly higher risk of suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts compared to their heterosexual peers. Mental health conditions: Depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders are significant risk factors. Substance abuse: Alcohol and drug abuse can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Trauma and adverse experiences: Bullying, and cyberbulying, abuse, family conflict, and exposure to violence are associated with increased suicide Social isolation and lack of support: Feeling isolated and lacking social connections can contribute to suicidal ideation. Stressful life events: Significant life changes, such as family disruption or relationship problems, can increase vulnerability.


We all have a moral responsibility to help prevent suicide - and teen suicides may be more effectively preventable. The increase in teen suicides in developed countries is often due to cyberbulying. There needs to be severe penalties for cyberbulying.

I was surprised at the number of Catholic priest suicides. The highest rate of priest suicides is in Ireland and I thank Fatter James O’Brien for his prayer for priests who have committed suicide


A Quote to Remember


“I commend pastoral workers and voluntary associations and organisations to support in practical ways and through concrete initiatives, those families who have mentally ill people dependent upon them. I hope that the culture of acceptance and sharing will grow and spread to them, thanks also to suitable laws and health-care programmes which provide sufficient resources for their practical application….”

by Pope Benedict XVI


Prayers


A prayer for Catholic mental health providers


In the heart of the dark, stealing through what is hidden, are the

Worms which empty the potato, leaving it like a brittle egg-shell.

Or the larvae in the soil, rising in the night to strike, ever so gently,

The fledgling plant, eating the leaves, holing its embrace on life.

Or the cold, descending frost, biting into the buds and blunting the tip

That would reach upwards and grow towards the light-increasing-life.

A face disfigured: “Darkness was over the face of the deep” (Gn 1: 2)

Glamour is no protection against the poisonous suggestion,

insinuating further in as it works its way through restless resistance.


Popularity bursts, leaving bruised and battered the people who once

Were icons of success, scattering what was good like crashed glass.

Good works: What were they? Who did them? Who can remember?

Subsiding like the passing of a great whale, where no trace remains.

Together Mary, the Mother of the Lord and Mary Magdalene, and

Others, too, were with John the Evangelist in your presence, Lord,

While you endured the cross, not flinching from their place of pain,

But bearing it too, in the heart’s hearth, kindling a love between us

More like a love from Love, wherein we transcend our differences in

Being still and becoming one, communicating what we can, when we

Can, through your very Presence in the impossible places of pain,

Bearing witness, in word and sacrament, that in being there you are

With us, whether on a cross or accompanying those who are – we are

Together tethered in prayer, touched by the touch of your word.


Oh Lord of Love, your undying Love lights, again and again, our

Flickering failing, near fatal inaccessibility but, as with the closed

Room, you can pass through to the innermost depths of our dying

Spirit and, like a fire leaping up with the flame that lights it, your

Presence among us takes us out of our isolation and estrangement.

Open to us, again and again, the contact of communication with

Communion: to that coming together in the solidarity of suffering that

Rises to the promise of the resurrection, whether in this life or the life

Eternal to come, restoring as it redeems our ruined relationships and

Expands our horizons to the hope of eternal glory and the needy other.


So, Lord, let all who come to help, bring all their expertise and

Training, experience and know-how, whether on their own or in the Company of

others, turning again to the great companionship of the One who has been

through the searing, tearing of soul from body and Everything that torments

and foments division, finding forgiveness to Be the answer that unbinds and

unfurls the biting sins and binds us

Through gifts of grace, like many chords of a song of praise, rising,

As we rise, to the praise of your redeeming Love, turning us to hope.

Oh Lord, let your Holy word so permeate our spirit that, uncovering

What needs healing, heeding what needs helping, helping what needs

Help to recover from the disintegrating, embittering lie of being

Unloved. unwanted, unable to come back into the community we left.

“And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness

Over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mk 15: 33).


“And the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Gn 1: 2).

And so let the Holy Spirit inspire our understanding of the “other”

That we may find a path to the problems that beset us and, in time,

Upload the soothing relief of being released to live, love and be more.

May the Mother of the Lord, Mary Magdalene. St. John and all the

Angels and saints, in all their diverse array, help us to see, to believe

And to benefit from the immense wealth of wisdom in the

Tradition And Magisterial teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ.

And may the depths from which we come, oh Lord, help us to

Communicate with those still immersed in the recesses of hurt,

Hurting too much to talk, too silent to speak, too unheard to be heard

Easily, that the new beginning be not a false, faked start, but a reality

Too hoped for to be anything but solidly real, wonderful and graced.

by Francis Etheredge, Catholic married layman, father, and author:


 

Good and glorious Risen Christ,


When I read a story like this I immediately try to remember the goodness of each person/priest mentioned and the beauty of what they gave to the Catholic Church.

By responding to your call, Oh Christ, you have made the Body of Christ so The statement from their house: “Thirteen of our brothers departed the Ridgeway Community, Enugu state, for Obudu, Cross Rivers state, Nigeria, but unfortunately had a fatal accident. Dear Lord, help us to understand how quickly they offered themselves but left the world. In our world today, each and every person/priest is so important to the Body of Christ filled with loving care. Seven of the brothers died as a result of the accident, while six of them sustained various degrees of injuries. We will miss these sacred men/priest from the Body of Christ but know that they will receive eternal rest. We will pray for those injured and show them our steadfast love for them by our prayers and care for others. The injured brothers have been transferred to Enugu for proper treatment. We wish that they all will heal rapidly and with little pain so that they may return to the work they promised to do for you, Oh Lord. In the statement, Anyanwu entrusted the souls of his deceased confreres to the “merciful love of God” and invited the people of God to “join us in praying for the happy repose of their souls.” He said funeral arrangements will be “communicated in due course.” We send blessings and graces for all those in grief and sadness.

by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

 

Prayer for Joe Biden


Source of Life, we pray for all those who are in need of a healing of body and of spirit. We raise in our hearts former President Joseph Biden and pray that Your healing power inspires all who assist him in this time of need. May You comfort his family and empower him as he walks, as eventually all must, through the Valley of the Shadow.  Grant him and all who are ill a healing of spirit and, if it be possible, a healing of body as well. May he find refuge and solace in the sure knowledge that we are never far from Your loving embrace. Amen.

by Rabbi Michael Zedek Profiles in Catholicism

 

Prayer for Priests who have Committed Suicide

 

O Lord, we are fragile vessels. We can break down and feel abandoned.

We remember those in ministry who felt lost and alone.

We remember those who took their lives. Receive them in your mercy.

Heal their brokenness and give them the love and healing they did not get here.

Wipe away every tear from their lives.

Let us remember those priests among us who suffer mentally.

May we love and accept them as you do Fill them with your love

and let them know they are precious in your eyes

Amen

by Father John O'Brien, OFM Profiles in Catholicism

 

Prayer for abused children

 

Lord we have seen and heard the children cry and pour out theirsuffering and their pain,They cry to you to rescue them from the abusers and the shame,That is unjustly heaped upon them as if they were to blame,while the abusers walk free and unsullied is their name.Lord bring the abusers to justice and give the children closure, peace and freedom,May they know they are the most important in your friendship and your kingdom.To receive a child you said is to welcome and be one with you ,Inspire us Lord to fight for their dignity and their rightsand give healing and a life that is wonderful and new.Amen.by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism

 

Mental Health Interviews



General Interviews



Mental Health Information and General Challenges


General Mental Health Medical Journal Articles



Mental Health General Articles and Commentaries


Specific Groups Affected by Mental Health Challenges


Teens and Young Adults


Teens and Young Adults Mental Health Medical Journal Articles



Teens and Young Adults Mental Health General Articles and Commentaries



Children


Children Mental Health Medical Journal Articles



Children Mental Health General Articles and Commentaries



Women


Women Mental Health Medical Journal Articles



Women Mental Health General Articles and Commentaries



June General Articles and Commentaries


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Videos


Early Warning signs for children with mental illness

New Life at Preda: Resilience and Hope | Preda Foundation, Inc.


UN Debate on 'Youth" Interview with Emily Toole, Youth Leader by Christian Peschken  PESCHKEN reports


 Fr. Mike Schmitz - The Hour That Will Change Your Life - SEEK 2015 


 EVERY PARENT AND TEEN: WATCH THIS! "You're Amazing!" Justin Fatica | HAN [ MassImpact.us ] 


  Life on the Rock - Model for Chastity - Fr. Mark and Doug with Leah Darrow 


 Long-lasting Catholic Youth Ministry with Christopher Wesley | Rebuilt Parish 


 5 Reasons The Church Needs Youth Ministry  


 Paul J. Kim - Saturday Evening Keynote - 2015 Steubenville on the Bayou 





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