As has been reported in multiple places lately, suicides are increasing. According to the latest information from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. more people died from suicide than in auto accidents. Yes, the number one cause of accidental death for decades has been replaced by suicide. And that is not all. In just ten years, the suicide rate for men in their fifties increased nearly 50 percent while that for women aged sixty to sixty-four jumped 60 percent! These are shocking statistics by any standard. The Baby Boomers now have the highest suicide rate in our society.
A similar story has been reported about the dramatic increase in suicides among members of the military. According to the data released by the military, suicides among those on active duty hit a record high in 2012. There were 349 suicides among active duty personnel – almost one a day. That means there are now more suicides among active duty soldiers than there are combat deaths.
Many ideas about the cause of the increase have been circulated. Regarding the civilian suicide increase, financial problems, job losses and medical problems have been suggested as possible causes. During the last decade, our economy has faltered and many have felt the impact. Foreclosures, bankruptcies and unemployment have increased along with the number of suicides. For those in the Baby Boomer generation, these issues may force a loss of status that was acquired through hard work over many years. This can be devastating.
A host of potential causes for the increase in military suicide has also been offered. Some of the suggested causes are the same as those assailing the civilian population. Unemployment and family stress resulting from frequent deployment may be a big part of the problem. Also, the after effects of war, like post traumatic stress syndrome and other physical and psychological injuries probably factor into the high suicide rate.
I have a different take on why suicide has become an increasingly attractive choice for Americans, both in and out of uniform. My explanation is based on the assumption of a simple fact, one that has been recognized and revered for centuries. We are spiritual beings who are directly connected with God/the Universal Source. Once you begin to think of us in that way, it is possible to see the dramatic suicide increase in another light.
When people act and live in a way that is contrary to their true spiritual nature, it causes a deep stress pattern to develop within them. This stress pattern exists between our innate desire to love and be loved and a way of life that disconnects us from this innate expression of our humanity. In the absence of religious or social training to the contrary, people naturally gravitate to one another. When the concepts of competition and scarcity are constantly forced upon us from an early age, we loose touch with our innate spirituality, our internal energetic connection with the natural world and with each other. Fear, separation, isolation and unhappiness are the results. Regardless of what material goods and pleasurable pursuits we substitute for real happiness, none of it works in the long run. As we realize this, despair and depression can overcome us and without spiritual awakening, permeate our lives and create in individual hell on earth.
In addition to the social conditioning all of us receive, soldiers endure an even more extreme form of social alienation. They must learn to kill other human beings without hesitation, without remorse simply because someone else tells them to. Killing others is completely antithetical to our natural desire for connection and community. The scientists tell us that we are primarily an energy field and this energy extends out from us in all directions, in some cases across vast distances. We truly are connected to all life energy on earth. I believe that training people to kill damages our energy field and its connection to others. Actually killing another human being must be incredibly destructive to the spiritual self. Since we are first and foremost spiritual beings who are connected to all other beings as the expression of the One God/Universe, destroying life is utterly without merit or purpose. Such actions and the thinking that surrounds it and attempts to justify it are toxic to human beings at our core spiritual level.
I think that suicide is a result of our inability to accept our divine nature and recognize ourselves as spiritual beings born of Universal Good. Our thoughts and actions that are not in accordance with our true nature and its highest expression damage and weaken our energy fields including our bodies and minds. When the contrast between our highest good and its expression widely diverge, we are separated from our true selves and our real power. We are lost without awareness of our connection to the Oneness of the Universe. This disconnect is so total, so complete, that we believe our physical existence must end. The lost awareness of our spiritual connection is the true death. The demise of the body is simply the expression of this loss.