September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a moment to pay homage to the lives lost due to suicide and mental health issues and to support families and people who have experienced the loss of a loved one.
Suicide is something that touches everyone, even if you haven’t been personally affected by the ramifications. Every day in Canada, statistically, 12 people die by suicide, with approximately 4,500 deaths by suicide per year. Suicidal ideation often goes unseen, appearing sometimes in those we are least likely to suspect, regardless of race, gender or age. Sometimes the people who appear happiest are struggling the most.
Staying alert and aware of warning signs is a big part of preventing suicide and then knowing what to do with those premonitions is ultimately a big part of not only harm reduction but also overall personal wellness. There’s a big, outdated misconception where some people often look at suicide as a form of moral failing — I would like to state that is most certainly not the case. Anyone who has experienced any form of mental duress or mental illness would say that being plagued by negative or detrimental thoughts is most certainly not a choice.
The destigmatization of mental health issues and resources attached to receiving help is essential to the reduction of suicide. This means taking away stigma attached to it, boosting awareness of not only what suicidal ideation can look like, but also learning about the resources in your area. You don’t need to be affected or know someone who has been affected by mental health issues to care.
Mental health is health care. Some resources in Winnipeg include the Suicide Crisis Helpline, accessible by calling or texting 988, and mental health inpatient services at the Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface Hospital or Victoria Hospital.
Free counselling at the U of M is offered to current students through the Student Counselling Centre, and although it’s not an immediate fix if you are in a crisis, I recommend dropping by if you are experiencing emotional distress or need someone to talk to.
The Women’s Health Clinic offers free counselling for girls, women, Two-Spirit, trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming people, which can be accessed by calling (204) 947-2422 (extension 204) for an intake appointment.
The conversation surrounding normalizing mental health starts by making resources more accessible to people who need them. This means creating more health clinics that have access to intake services for people experiencing mental distress beyond the three hospitals that have absurd waiting times in Winnipeg. Beyond intake services, the implementation of mandatory high school education surrounding suicide and mental health services would allow people to know what resources are available to them, but also what mental health crisis deterrence looks like and how to help someone experiencing one.
It’s easy to look through a small window into someone’s life and determine what they’re going through when you only see a limited snapshot of it. I think that’s why for so long I didn’t access mental health resources, because when I told a person I suspected I had OCD, they would mention, “That’s for people who like to clean.”
Mental illness comes in different forms, not just one linear perception of sadness of someone sitting in a dark corner with their hood pulled up, not interacting with people. Although it can look like that, that’s not always the case. I wish I had the knowledge I do now surrounding mental health and resources offered around Winnipeg, it would have saved not only me a lot of mental distress but the people around me, who I may have inadvertently hurt by not having the resources I needed.
When we dislodge the idea that mental health struggles can only look one way, we open the door for more narratives and the destigmatization surrounding people who suffer from mental health issues. We need more resources and education as a populace to reduce suicide loss and attempts across Canada.
