On the 8th of February, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published a recommendation in the Annals of Internal Medicine for pediatricians and family physicians to practice depression screening for adolescents aged 12 to 18.

In 2009, depression screening was only permissible in circumstances where the patient was in a position to be able to undergo proper treatment. This, however, was insufficient.

What prompted these recommendations was the fact that when adolescents suffer from depression, there is a higher chance for them to commit suicide. According to U.S. government statistics, 8% of adolescents suffer from depression. Research reveals that 17% of American high school students have seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 8% have actually attempted suicide.

Children who have witnessed tragic scenes at home such as violence, alcohol, and drugs, and children who have experienced relationship problems and bullying are more often prone to thinking of suicide. The U.S. is a country with intense competition, and tends to think of rising in the world at the expense of others. Children, who have lost in this war, are scarred.

You Can’t Return to Heaven after Suicide

People often commit suicide thinking that it will relieve them of suffering and they can return to heaven. Just like Christianity has long taught, however, suicide does not relieve the pain.

In his book “The Hell Equation”, Master Ryuho Okawa, the founder of Happy Science, explained the following:

There is no question that long-term depression is caused by evil spirits possessing the person. Our mind can point in any direction, 360 degrees, just like the needles of a clock. It can point towards heaven just as it can point towards hell, and the state of depression is when that needle is pointing towards hell and stays there.

As a result, the hellish vibrations and beings that reside in the pointed direction coincide with the person. This means that like-minded fellows come around, and so wandering spirits can come and possess that person.

To give an example: people who commit suicide can’t return to heaven easily. Usually, this is not possible until the person’s planned lifespan is over. Until then, these suicide spirits go around finding like-minded people and possessing them. They then make the possessed people do the same thing the suicide spirits did while still alive: that is, commit suicide. This way, they can drag more people down to hell.

Making a Habit of Self-Reflection to Correct the Mind

Once people learn the Truth and their minds become pure again, the evil spirits are unable to coexist and have to leave. In the end, the only thing you can take back to the other world with you is your mind.

The tendencies and bad habits developed in your mind, and what kinds of spirits you drew towards you, are all part of the law of self-responsibility. This is why making a habit of self-reflection is so important.

In his book “The Mystical Laws”, Master Okawa wrote the following:

This world is a material world, so our soul training in this world is very heavy, and can have around 10 times the effect of training in the spiritual world. That means that 1 year of serious self-reflection in this world equals 10 years of self-reflection in the other world.

 
We become able to receive guidance from our guardian spirits by changing our tendencies through self-reflection. We can feel warmth when our minds are in harmony.

The salvation power of Happy Science’s prayer book, “The Dharma of the Right Mind”, is especially powerful. “The Dharma of the Right Mind” points the way to the exploration of the correct mindset, and just listening to the audio CD will get rid of most possessing evil spirits.

Life is a workbook of problems. Life is purposeful because we live it, and because we live, we can rebuild it. It is our ardent wish that all people learn the teachings of Happy Science to change the mind and to solve the many problems in life.