‘We need to not be afraid to talk about suicide,’ says Catholic mental health expert

As National Suicide Prevention Month draws to a close, a Catholic mental health expert told OSV News that open, ongoing conversations about suicide are crucial.

“We need to not be afraid to talk about suicide,” said Capuchin Franciscan Father Fred Cabras, a licensed clinical social worker, board member of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability and board liaison for the NCPD’s Council on Mental Illness. Established in 1982, the NCPD works with dioceses, parishes, ministers and laity to promote the full inclusion of people with disabilities in the life of the church and society.

Since 2008, the U.S. has designated the month of September as a time to focus on suicide awareness and prevention, expanding upon the 2003 establishment of World Suicide Prevention Day (Sept. 10) by the World Health Organization and the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide rates have climbed steadily throughout the first quarter of the 21st century, rising among both sexes across almost every age and race group. Suicide ranked as the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2022, with just under 49,500 Americans dying of suicide and an estimated 1.6 million suicide attempts in the nation during that year. Some 13.2 million adults and 3.4 million adolescents ages 12 to 17 had serious thoughts of suicide in 2022, with 3.8 million adults and 1.7 million teens making suicide plans.

While the Catholic Church teaches that suicide is “gravely contrary to the just love of self” and condemns assisted suicide, the catechism also notes that” grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide” — and according to statistics cited by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 46 percent of people who die by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition, with as many as 90 percent possibly experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition.

“We need to not be afraid to talk about the importance of communicating and advocating for individuals who are experiencing either mental health challenges or just sadness and depression — whatever they’re experiencing in their life that may lead them to thoughts of wanting to hurt themselves and take their own life,” said Father Cabras.

In October 2023, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops unveiled its National Catholic Mental Health Campaign, amid a global crisis in mental health and a decline in mental health resources in the U.S. With the support of the NCPD and other key organizations, the initiative seeks to raise awareness of the issue, remove the sense of stigma for those suffering from mental illness, and advocate for help for those suffering from mental illness.

Leading the initiative are Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn., chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.

The church has a critical role to play in addressing mental health issues, said Father Cabras, who urged priests “not to be afraid to talk about mental health at the pulpit, and not to be afraid to talk about the interwovenness of spirituality and mental health, because they’re strongly connected.”

“Sometimes people, especially priests, are afraid to talk about it because they’re like, ‘Well, I’m not an expert, I’m not a clinician, I’m not a therapist,'” said Father Cabras. “But you are a human being, and you experience sadness and depression — maybe not to the scale of some individuals, but you can understand somebody’s pain. And to speak from that experience I think is so vital.”

He commended Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Neb., for candidly sharing his struggles with depression in “A Future with Hope,” a pastoral letter the bishop released in May affirming that healing is possible, thanks to holistic interventions grounded in Christ that treat body, mind and spirit.

“Jesus yearns to walk with you, and He offers a peace and hope this world cannot give,” wrote Bishop Conley in the introduction to the letter. I pray sharing my journey will help you with your journey.”

Father Cabras told OSV News he himself has struggled with generalized anxiety disorder, and at one point sought intensive treatment.

“Unfortunately, sometimes my anxiety, because it’s so pronounced in my life, takes me into some really dark places,” he said, noting that about two years ago he found himself having to step away from his demanding ministry schedule to enter a 14-week program at Southdown, a Canadian-based nonprofit counseling and therapy center serving clergy, religious and lay pastoral ministers.

“I was feeling a little bit burned out from the ministry, but I was also being really hard on myself, feeling I wasn’t doing enough or good enough,” said Father Cabras. “So that really took me into kind of a tailspin of anxiety and an ‘imposter syndrome’ diagnosis.”

He credited his Capuchin community of “really amazing brothers” who had helped him discern the need for help.

“They said, ‘You know, we’ve been noticing this (issue). What do you need us to do? How can we help you?'” said Father Cabras. “And I said, ‘I think I need to go into treatment,” and they were like, ‘Absolutely.’ In a week I was at Southdown, and it was just a wonderful experience.”

Father Cabras highlighted the need for compassion and clarity in evaluating mental and spiritual distress.

“Something that I always tell to people in the confessional or in my practice is that our emotions are not sinful,” he said. “What we do with our emotions and how we respond to them is where sin can enter in.”

Suicide prevention also requires the courage and humility to “notice and not be afraid to say something” if an individual appears to be withdrawing from the others, manifesting signs of depression and possibly contemplating suicide, he said.

“If you notice somebody who is typically at Wednesday daily Mass, and you haven’t seen them in three weeks, reach out to that person and say, ‘Hey, I haven’t seen you, is everything OK? Is there anything I can do? Can I help you in any way?'” said Father Cabras. “If you’re noticing people are isolating, if you’re noticing people are just not at their normal level, don’t be afraid to say something.”

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, call 911 or 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is available 24/7 in the U.S. and its territories by phone, chat and text, with assistance also provided in ASL (American Sign Language). The website address for the 988 Lifeline is https://988lifeline.org.

For more information on the National Catholic Partnership for Disability, visit https://ncpd.org. For more information on the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign, visit https://www.usccb.org/mentalhealth. Additional resources for mental health can be found on the website of the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers at https://catholicmhm.org.

The full text of “A Future with Hope,” a pastoral letter on mental health by Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, can be accessed https://www.lincolndiocese.org/afuturewithhope.

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