Weekly News Roundup – Nov. 6-13, 2017
Hello Friends,
Every day we scan news headlines and social media for items of interest to the field of suicide prevention. Here’s what we found last week:
Winnipeg teen who spoke out about depression, suicide says it helped her and others – CBC
November 13, 2017
Lexi Howika, 17, spoke out about her struggles with depression and suicide in a video that went viral two years ago. Howika says that talking about her experience has since helped her recover. Find out more about how talking about their experiences can help survivors of suicide attempts in their recovery journey.
For two families of soldiers who died by suicide, the battle for recognition is over – Globe and Mail
November 8, 2017
The family of Corporal John Unrau, who died by suicide after serving in Afghanistan, has received a Memorial Cross medal. The Memorial Cross medal is given to the loved ones of Canadian Armed Forces members who died in service or whose death was attributable to their service. “They’ve accepted it. That’s all we wanted,” John’s brother, Eddy Unrau, said. Learn more about the connection between serving in the military and suicide in our resource toolkit.
Eight seconds: The life and death of a cowboy – Globe and Mail
November 7, 2017
Bull riding is the world’s most dangerous sport. Besides the obvious health and safety risks, there are severe psychological risks as well, as exhibited through the suicide death of Ty Pozzobon, a Canadian bull rider. This Globe feature talks about the complexities surrounding Pozzobon’s death, including his many concussions, loss of social connections, and degenerative neurological disease.
Youth suicides signal need for culture change in child welfare system: Advocate – Edmonton Journal
November 6, 2017
Alberta’s child and youth advocate has released yet another report detailing the circumstances surrounding the suicide deaths of two Indigenous teens and providing recommendations to the province. This time, advocate Del Graff is recommending that trauma-informed care be used more extensively in the child welfare system. Three girls are named in the report, because their negative experiences with Alberta’s child intervention services were almost identical. “Tina,” “Shirley”, and “Jazmine” were all “born into unpredictability and violence,” and their “early childhood trauma… was not addressed and impacted them throughout their young lives.” To learn more about children and trauma-informed care, check out our toolkit on the subject.
Study shows abnormal overdose and suicide rates among young female Indigenous drug users – Vancouver Sun
November 6, 2017
Results from a new study show that young Indigenous people who use drugs are 13 times more likely to die than people in the general population who use. The study followed over 600 young people in Vancouver and Prince George over a period of 12 years. 40 of the study participants died, mostly from overdose, illness, and suicide. Twice as many women died, and, “Although in B.C.’s general population more males than females die from overdoses, women made up 75 per cent of the deaths in the study from overdose and illness and 80 per cent of the suicides.” Usually men die by suicide three times more often than women.