Remarkable scientific advances now confirm greater hope for deeper healing among those grappling with depression and anxiety. But this can feel unsettling and even threatening to some.
Prominent Salt Lake attorney, Eli McCann tweeted a widely shared and remarkable claim. I frequently have Mormon parents of lgbtq children reach out and ask what they can do to be affirming and make sure their child feels safe. I am so sorry to say that there is absolutely no healthy place for their child within the church. — Eli McCann (@EliMcCann) March 29, 2022 While variations on this theme have frequently appeared in pop media, the reality is that his claim has been not only thoroughly debunked, but the opposite shown to be the case. Hal Boyd at Deseret News writes: https://twitter.com/halrobertboyd/status/1508775258467311618 So not only might The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints be among the safest places for LGBT+ youth, the kind of rhetoric that McCann is employing here has been found to be itself dangerous.
I sit with several of my Public Square friends to discuss their recent articles discussing accuracies, and inaccuracies, of common assumptions about Utah.
The narrative that teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ are causing suicidality among LGBT youth is unsubstantiated. New research, showing a negative association between Church membership and suicidality in these youth, suggests the possibility that the opposite is true.
Suicide is tragic—and shouldn’t be leveraged for ideological ends. A superficial reading of LGBT+ suicide stats can cause more harm than good.
We’ve tried so hard to decrease depression, anxiety and suicide. And the numbers keep going up. Is it time to consider even more fundamental shifts in our approach?
As suicide numbers increase, we continue to hear suggestions that “undertreatment” is the main problem. After two decades of rising treatment rates, could it be time to reassess?
