Hi. It’s Gilles Brideau again just talking to you about suicide prevention, especially around ending stigma.
I’ve just found out recently that September is Suicide Prevention Month, and so I wanted to just make a quick video about talking about suicide and the importance of reaching out and getting people help. A lot of times, for me, in talking with my clients, it’s really ending the stigma about suicide, even in terms of having a discussion about it. In working at a collegiate level, what I’ve found was a lot of students, I would say a great percentage, probably about 25 to 30% of the student population, were having thoughts of suicide. Where a lot of them were just because of stress and what was going on in their everyday life, they just wished they wouldn’t wake up.
About a year ago, I went to a pretty amazing presentation here in Sudbury around it was called a “Post-Vention about Suicide Prevention”. There was one presenter specifically that touched me about her story. The message was that a lot of people talk about committing suicide like they’re committing a crime, but the language that she used instead was it’s almost like you’re out in the middle of a lake, and that you’ve been treading water for some time. Sometimes life events, like they do, have a way of putting more weight on you, weight on your shoulders, and the thought of suicide is not about not wanting to fight, not wanting to struggle. It’s just by being so tired of treading water and wondering when a boat is going to come by or you’re going to receive a life jacket of any kind instead of just having this weight put on them.
She was saddened in her story because she had lost friends of hers by suicide, and she just talked about the fact that they were just tired of treading water. I thought it was a very valid metaphor for this topic, because oftentimes the people that are discussed are the people that are left in the wake with a lot of questions on “why?”, being told that suicide is a very selfish act and all that kind of stuff. When I think about that metaphor of treading water, and for me I’m a horrible swimmer, I would just wonder how long would I want to continue to fight? To the clients that I’ve had, that’s really what they’ve mentioned: That it really feels likes a fight every day.
My reason for doing this video is to reach out, talk to someone, understand that just by talking sometimes doesn’t make it better, but I feel like it lightens the load. Suicide just really takes away the possibility of things getting better. Sometimes just talking about it will lessen things enough for the day to feel like you’ve gotten a life jacket.
If you or anybody else is struggling with suicide, I just have a couple resources, I will have them below, in terms of numbers that I want to say quite quickly. There’s Kids Help Phone. That’s a t 1-800-668-6868. That’s in Canada. There’s also Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.
A couple of things just in terms of warning signs for your loved ones. If you’re worried that someone you know may be at risk, some of the warning signs of course are suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, purposelessness, anxiety, feeling trapped, hopeless, helpless, feeling feelings of withdrawal, anger, recklessness, and severe mood changes. What’s most important, as everybody returns to school, at whatever level, whether that’s elementary school, secondary school, or at a college or university level, know that for a lot of students they really feel isolated and alone. Reaching out and talking to them will play a really important part in a person’s wellness.
With that, thanks so much. This is really about ending stigma and starting a conversation. I wish you well, and we’ll talk soon.