Ten people in Canada will commit suicide today. Ten more lives will be lost tomorrow, and another 10 the day after that.

We, as a society, need to start talking about suicide in an open and honest manner. It’s the only way the sobering statistics on suicide death will begin to decrease.

This powerful message was among several delivered during a day-long conference hosted last week by the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton.

The event brought together 220 people from across the province, who have been impacted in some manner by suicide. Audience members came from all walks of life — parents, students, social workers, police officers and correctional workers, to name just a few.
The participants all heard a similar call to arms — create a dialogue around suicide to reduce the stigma and bring mental health issues out of the shadows.

Between 3,500 and 4,000 people a year in Canada take their own lives, and the numbers will not decrease until suicide stops being swept, unseen, under the carpet.

More people kill themselves in Hamilton each year than those who die in car crashes or homicides. World-wide, the World Health Organization estimates more than one million people die by suicide every year; it is the leading cause of death among teenagers and adults under 35.

It’s time to do something.

Thirty years ago, a stigma similar to that surrounding suicide was attached to cancer. But fundraisers, medical advances and the sheer numbers of people affected by cancer brought the disease into the forefront. The same needs to happen with suicide and mental health issues.

The conference keynote speaker, Scott Chisholm, who lost his father to suicide in 1982, perhaps said it best.

“Nobody treats you differently if you have a broken arm. Why should they treat you differently if you have a mental illness?”

The movement to reduce the stigma of suicide is slowly starting to happen.

There was no attempt to disguise the fact in frilly, vague language that three NHL tough guys — Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien — found themselves unable to cope with life died by their own hands this summer.

In Ottawa, city councillor Allan Huble has spoken candidly about the death of his 15-year-old son, Jamie, who struggled with being bullied because of his sexuality. At the time of his death by suicide, the young man suffered from depression and was receiving care from doctors and counsellors.

Closer to home in Hamilton, 17-year-old Sir Winston Churchill student Christopher Howell died after years of torment. He had Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperacitivity disorder. Christopher, too, was receiving treatment and counselling to deal with the bullying and his own anger management issues.

The media, usually shy about reporting suicide, has covered these stories. It has prompted dialogue, and resulted in a small step being taken to overcome a gigantic problem that has been cloaked in secrecy far too long.

Suicide needs to be treated like any other health concern. We all have a role to play. Too few people know the signs of depression; too many turn their heads.
For more information about the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton, log onto www.spcch.org.