For those seeking help, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-TALK. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also provides suicide prevention resources at suicide.lds.org.
A recently released series of eight videos that encourages Latter-day Saints to listen to and love those considering suicide features a man whose life changed after the suicide of his son away at college.
Rodolfo Beltran, a local Church leader in Washington, D.C., whose son Carlos took his own life, says he used to think suicide only affects families with big problems. But he has learned that suicide “can affect anybody.” Of utmost importance, he says, is that we talk openly about how to prevent suicide and that we do all we can to help people feel they are welcome in our midst.
“We need to learn as leaders of the Church how to prevent this,” Beltran says. “We need to learn how to talk about it. We need to understand that mental illness is just like having any other illness. … We have to make sure people feel they belong. We’ve got to make sure that our kids understand there is a safe place for them and they can talk about it.”
Beltran’s story can be viewed above. Other videos in the series can be seen on YouTube or suicide.lds.org.