8 - Suicide

Canada has the third highest teen suicide rate in the world. Within Canada, Nunavut has the highest rate of teenage suicide. In 2017, Alberta’s suicide rate of 14.9 deaths per 100,000 people among the highest in Canada. Most suicide deaths involve teenage or young adult males.

  pdfSuicide statistics in Alberta.

Women attempt suicide nine times more frequently than men. However, men use guns more often as a means of committing suicide, so their suicide rate is higher. When women attempt suicide, they often use drug overdoses, so if they are rushed to hospital in time, they often can be saved. Women have more tendency to reach out to others and give warning signals of contemplating suicide. Most people who attempt suicide have given some type of warning sign, but that can be missed if one does not know what to look for.

suicide_prevention

Suicide is traceable to a wide range of factors such as poverty, isolation, divorce, family alcoholism, prejudice, intense negative pressure from peers, and academic pressures. All these situations can plunge people into serious depression. Unemployment can trigger thoughts of suicide because it can destroy an individual’s self-esteem.

People who harbour thoughts of suicide need professional counselling.  Here is the information for Calgary...

Distress Centre Calgary

We must remember that suicide is an individual choice. Never blame anyone when it happens. Family and friends tend to feel guilty when suicide occurs. Be honest with your feelings so you do not set up any barricades that prevent you from working through your feelings of bereavement.

Feelings that survivors display when suicide deaths occur are different than for other causes of death. First, people feel numb as a means of self-protection from the death. Second, their emotions come forward in various ways as they acknowledge their grief. Finally, they begin to feel more comfortable with their feelings and begin to take small steps to get on with their lives.

Everyone expresses grief in personal ways. Bereavement takes time.