Suicide Among Mormon Populations

 I can't seem to stop binge watching interviews with people who have left the Momon church. Today I watched an interview with a man with adult children. In the interview we hear him tell of his near suicide when he was a missionary for the denomination in Poland. The moderator said suicide attempts and thoughts have come up often in experiences of these young people they have interviewed These young people are far from home and pressured to do work that receives constant rejection.

The man when young was faced with a year and a half of rejection by people in Poland who were Catholic and had no interest in this strange new faith. His family were so proud of him being chosen to go on this experience he felt he could not return before his two-year obligation was finished. 

According to information on this site, the Mormon hierarchy does not expect the missionary work done by their young people to generate many new converts. Instead, it is thought that once a young person has invested two years of his/her life doing this miserable work they will feel obligated to stay in the faith and contribute lots of money to it.

Apparently, those supervising the young people such as the young man in Poland, do not have formal training in detecting or treating mental illnesses. In addition, some of the stories told by people who did this work and talked about it as adults revealed walking the streets in dangerous places without security services. The young man who almost committed suicide in Poland was kidnapped and spent some time as a hostage. He did not report this to supervisors because he felt he himself might be blamed for being kidnapped.

A study done a few years ago found the suicide rate in Mormon-heavy Utah is twice as high as the national average. It was pointed out that not all of Utah is Mormon and the data does not ask the religion of youth who commit suicide.

So much about the Momon church is secret. Estimates are that is has accumulated $265 billion. The money is requested to help spread the faith. Instead, huge amounts are invested in private businesses and real estate. The site where the above You Tube interview is available is call "Mormon Stories Podcasts." It paints a picture of a faith steeped in corruption and power.