Question
How does the Lord look upon suicide if a person had been very depressed?
Lori
Answer
Dear Lori,
The final judgment bears some similarities to a panel of judges for Olympic diving. The diver is judged on two things: 1) how well the dive is performed, and 2) the degree of difficulty for that particular dive. Similarly, our lives are judged on 1) how well we did, with considerations for 2) the particular circumstances. The final judgment differs from this analogy in that our Judge descended below all things (D&C 122:8) and so is able to accurately judge an individual’s “degree of difficulty”. Jesus is the perfect judge because he took upon Himself our infirmities (Alma 7:12), including the kind of depression that would drive a person to suicide. In short, the Lord looks upon a person’s suicide justly and, considering the circumstances, mercifully.
As far as depression, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave a very moving talk in General Conference regarding this. His talk is entitled “Like a Broken Vessel.” I highly recommend reading it.
