{"id":140337,"date":"2023-02-09T19:23:54","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T00:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=140337"},"modified":"2023-03-01T12:51:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T17:51:19","slug":"suicide-prevention-week-it-all-comes-back-to-lets-talk-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/suicide-prevention-week-it-all-comes-back-to-lets-talk-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Suicide Prevention Week: ‘It all comes back to let\u2019s talk about it’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 33rd annual Suicide Prevention Week is being recognized this week. This year\u2019s campaign runs under the theme \u201cPrevention is Better Than Death\u201d to highlight the importance of prevention and to encourage people to talk about about suicide despite any fears or discomfort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are two community organizations in the Eastern Townships that provide suicide prevention services: Sherbrooke based organization the JEVI Suicide Prevention Center and Granby based organization the Centre de pr\u00e9vention du suicide de la Haute-Yamaska.<\/p>\n

The Centre de pr\u00e9vention du suicide de la Haute-Yamaska provides critical services to those suffering suicidal thoughts or that have attempted suicide and to those in their inner circle. The organization also offers awareness and training activities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anne Jutras, executive director of the Centre de pr\u00e9vention du suicide de la Haute-Yamaska, highlights the importance of Suicide Prevention Week and the services that are offered to the Brome-Missisquoi community by the organization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe importance is to talk about suicide. It\u2019s really a public health issue. There\u2019s three people in Quebec every day that die by suicide; we need to do something about it. The most pressing thing, and the most effective thing, is to talk about it with the people around us,\u201d emphasized Jutras<\/p>\n

Jutras added that the theme \"is a bit drastic this year, but it\u2019s true.\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s better to talk about it than to end up with someone who might think about death,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jutras noted that \u201cdistress and suffering doesn\u2019t target specific people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone, at any point in their life, might have had a moment of distress, of suffering, a point where they don\u2019t see the end of the tunnel and they don\u2019t know what to do. Mental health affects everyone and we know now through studies and information that, since the pandemic, our communities are more vulnerable,\u201d mentioned Jutras.\u201cOur mental health took a big kick with this whole pandemic and we know there are more people out there that are suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jutras explained that extra stressors like inflation, finding affordable housing, and the price of food add to an already distressful situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s that added little stress that leads people to have problems with mental health. It\u2019s important to know that it\u2019s not just one thing, one factor, it\u2019s a whole bunch of things together that bring people to that level of suffering where they actually think about taking their own life,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked why people struggle to reach out for help when they need it most, Jutras highlighted that there is still a lot of \u201ctaboo\u201d around talking about mental health and suicide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re afraid because it touches a subject that is very intense. We don\u2019t know how to talk to somebody not feeling well. If we ask someone \u2018well how are you doing?\u2019 and they say \u2018not so well,\u2019 we think that we\u2019re going to have to solve their problem, but that\u2019s not the case,\u201d explained Jutras. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stigma around asking for help still nowadays, especially the older generation where you were self-sufficient and had to deal with your own stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, there's the concern as to whether or not someone is actually going to be able to help them, continued Jutras.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big misconception. If you don\u2019t feel safe talking to someone in your close environment, there are services out there that will listen to you. They are there for that sole purpose; they will not judge you and they will listen,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can ask for help, it\u2019s not a bad thing, it\u2019s actually a position of strength. You\u2019re strong if you\u2019re able to go out there and ask for help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Centre de pr\u00e9vention du suicide de la Haute-Yamaska is one place that Brome-Missisquoi citizens can turn to in times of distress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe do phone interventions, people can call us and receive services 24\/7. We do in-person services, so someone can come to the centre and chat with one of the workers here. We have partnerships with hospitals, health clinics, and things like that so we actually do follow-ups with some clients on a regular basis that have suicidal thoughts or that have attempted suicide,\u201d highlighted Jutras.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The centre also works with the families, friends, and co-workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in the environment of that person that has suicidal thoughts or that has attempted suicide. It goes further than just the person. We offer training for professionals, health professionals and professionals in the schools, to be able to identify and support those people, those youth, that might have suicidal thoughts. We also work with people bereaved by suicide,\u201d added Jutras.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, Jutras emphasized that it all comes back to \u201clet\u2019s talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be supportive and caring of each other in our communities. Lending an ear doesn\u2019t mean that you have to be a professional and that you have to fix everything. (\u2026) Just having an open ear, no judgement, not trying to fix the problem, is often a huge relief for that person, and sometimes it will be their first step to hmmm maybe I do need help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suicide Prevention Week will run from Feb. 5-11.<\/p>\n

For more information on the Centre de pr\u00e9vention du suicide de la Haute-Yamaska<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

For 24\/7 support, call 450-375-4252 or go to the chatline at suicide.ca.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview below:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 33rd annual Suicide Prevention Week is being recognized this week. This year\u2019s campaign runs under the theme \u201cPrevention is Better Than Death\u201d to highlight the importance of prevention and to encourage people to talk about about suicide despite any fears or discomfort.\u00a0 There are two community organizations in the Eastern Townships that provide suicide…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":140341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,221,223],"tags":[4767,23016,23351,1107,1611,3961,6275,2419,23350,2394],"radio":[246],"origine":[274,259,260],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142799,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140337\/revisions\/142799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140337"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=140337"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=140337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}