Weekly News Roundup Dec. 9 – 15, 2023

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This will be the last news roundup of 2023! The next roundup will be released January 8, 2024. 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:

BC mom fights to block pro-suicide website – CTV
December 13, 2023
Isabella lost her son Jaden, 21, to suicide more than two years ago. Isabella found out that Jaden had been visiting a  pro-suicide website prior to his death, and now, she’s advocating to have the site banned in Canada. “It’s a website that is normalizing, encouraging, and instructing suicide,” says Isabella. Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division, also wants the site, and other pro-suicide sites, blocked. “It’s reprehensible in so many ways. These websites can do profound harm and can glamorize, romanticize, and encourage suicide, which is what we want to prevent,” says Jonny Morris, CMHA BC Division. Ottawa has yet to introduce online harms legislation. Peter Julian, New Westminster MP and NDP House Leader says, “We’ve been pushing for online harm legislation to be introduced because it is so vitally important that there is enforcement.” A statement from Health Canada says, “We are working with and engaging with various online platforms to see what options are available to limit or restrict access to websites that promote suicide.”

Rate of suicide in the U.S. peaks among older men, a hard demographic to reach – USA Today
December 11, 2023
**Language warning – use of the word ‘succeed’** Recent US suicide stats have found that suicides are at an 80-year high, with a particular increase noted in older people. Men 75 and older have the highest rates of suicide.  Psychologists say that often older people who consider suicide have one or more of the following: “depression; disability because of functional impairment; disease, with illness and pain; disconnectedness from others; and access to deadly weapons.” Social connection is an important factor in preventing suicides, despite the myth that  it’s normal to be isolated more as we age. Kathleen Cameron, a senior director at the nonprofit National Council on Aging, says, “Everyone deserves to have a healthy, well-rounded, good life as they age. No matter what health conditions they may have.”

‘Amélie asked for help’: Parents of Quebec woman who died by suicide testify at inquiry – Global News
December 11, 2023
**Method warning** A public inquiry into the suicide death of Amélie Champagne began in Montreal last week. Champagne, 22,  died in 2022, shortly after being discharged from hospital, where she was admitted following a suicide attempt. Champagne was released from hospital after only three days, and her family was told that she couldn’t be treated at there because she had an address in Montreal. She was referred to a hospital in the city.  Champagne’s father, Alain Champagne, former CEO of Groupe Jean Coutu and current CEO of Le Groupe Maurice, said, “Our family was a witness, we were a victim of a system that failed. We think it is important to know the context and shed light on the circumstances. Amélie asked for help. As a family we asked for help and what we experienced was not a problem of access to health care, it was a rejection.”

Suicide Rates Among Girls Are Decreasing – Teen Vogue
December 11, 2023
Recent US suicide stats show that, in 2022, suicide rates for females 24 and younger have declined. Young women between 10 and 14 saw a 22% in suicides for the year of 2022, while women 25 to 34 saw a 7% increase. Kelechi Loynd, psychiatrist at Washington University in St. Louis says, “Despite it being early, I can only suspect lifting the pandemic restrictions has helped prevent such isolating factors that contributed to this increase rate. As a result, the suicide rate may be less.”

How to communicate with teens about suicide – UCLA Health
December 8, 2023
In this article, Jena Lee, MD, a UCLA Health psychiatrist, provides guidelines and tips for how to talk to young people about suicide. Lee says, “Don’t ask, ‘How do I know if my kid is suicidal?’ Ask: ‘Assuming my kid is suicidal, how I do I make sure they’re going to be comfortable to come to me?’ I think that takes a lot of pressure off of parents. It gives us a plan. And the very act of trying to focus on how do I make it safe and comfortable for my teenager or my child to come to me and talk about this really heavy topic, that already solves half the problem.” Lee also encourages adults to come to conversations with “a listening ear.” “There’s nothing as powerful as empathy. Teenagers will never let you in on their secret: that they actually want to be heard by you and they care what you think. They’ll never let you in on that, but they do care. And if you sit down and try to listen to the narrative, their experiences, everything that led to the suicidal thoughts, they’re far more likely to share with you.”