Weekly News Roundup June 17 – 23, 2023

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Buddy Up Skills Training – Centre for Suicide Prevention
June 20, 2023
Centre for Suicide Prevention has partnered with CSV Midstream Solutions Corp. to implement a new suicide prevention program for on-site workers involved in the construction of CSV’s Albright Gas Processing Plant. Buddy Up Skills Training equips workers to skillfully respond to co-workers who are struggling with their mental health or may be considering suicide.

Buddy Up Interview with Chad Merchant – CSV Midstream Solutions
June 22, 2023
In this interview, CSV’s Albright Construction Manager Chad Merchant talks about the impact of Buddy Up Training, “Even since I’ve taken the training, you start to notice different things more and you look at them differently, through a more compassionate lens… the course has given me a different perspective… this gives you the tools to… start talking with people in a safe manner.” Merchant says, “Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness. That’s the biggest thing. And this is a tough industry to be in, you don’t want to show any weakness and all that, but I just would really love to get to the point where talking about mental health was normalized. Everybody’s been affected by it, one way or another over their lives. The only way to get the most people the help they need is if they feel safe to talk about it.”

Central Albertans are encouraged to ‘Buddy Up’ with a male friend to help lower the suicide rate – Red Deer Advocate
June 20, 2023
June is Men’s Health Month and Buddy Up month. Buddy Up was created by Centre for Suicide Prevention and predominantly male advisory and focus groups to address men’s suicide: men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women. “Men who are struggling with thoughts of suicide may find that asking for and receiving help is not easy. Finding ways to lessen the intensity of these thoughts may take time. Be courageous. Be persistent – help is available.”

YouTuber’s Death Highlights South Korea’s Persistent Struggles With Suicide – TIME
June 21, 2023
**Method warning, descriptive language warning** Lim Ji-hye, 37, a South Korean YouTuber, died by suicide off-camera during a livestream. Fans say her death is “so sad and heartbreaking.” Livestreamed suicides are becoming more common around the world, and experts are worried that they could cause contagion among those who view them. In recent years several South Korean entertainers have died by suicide, and the country has one of the highest suicide rates in developed countries. Common factors include the pressure that young people feel to do well in school, a lack of social protection, and stigma surrounding mental health issues. The South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare announced in April their plan to reduce the suicide rate by 30% in the next 5 years. When announcing the plan, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said, “Since protecting the people’s lives is the state’s most important responsibility, the government will do its best to protect the people’s lives through this suicide prevention plan.”

Mental health, addiction, suicide prevention standards introduced in Canada – Globe and Mail
June 20, 2023
The Health Standards Organization (HSO) has introduced national guidelines for mental health and addictions treatment and suicide prevention. HSO’s Kaye Phillips says that the aim of the guidelines is to improve care throughout people’s lives, provide more support to their family members and meet the needs of diverse populations, including youth and Indigenous communities. The standards will be adopted in 2024 by Accreditation Canada, a program certifying 1500 hospitals and community care facilities like treatment centres.

New national suicide lifeline struggling to keep up with volume, advocates say – ABC News
June 20, 2023
Since the launch of the three-digit suicide helpline in the US in July 2022, the helpline had over 2 million calls from people in crisis; 45% more than the 10-digit helpline in the previous year. Having calls answered locally is still an issue; most unanswered calls by local crisis lines are transferred to the national line where responders are less familiar with local services and therefore less equipped to help callers. Staffing issues are one reason why local call centres are struggling to respond.

Hillary’s Law passes, calling for automatic inquests after suicides in psychiatric units – CBC
June 19, 2023
Hillary’s Law passed unanimously in the New Brunswick legislature on Thursday. Hillary’s Law makes amendments to the Coroners Act that require an automatic coroner’s inquest following the death of a person in a psychiatric facility. The bill was brought forward following the suicide death of Hillary Hooper, 27, who died by suicide in a psychiatric care unit. Hooper’s mother, Patty Borthwick, says, “People will get their answers and they don’t have to fight. Now, when someone in a jail dies by suicide [or] someone in a hospital, a provincial institution dies by suicide, there’s an automatic inquest.”

Socioeconomic Factors are the Key Contributors to Surge in Suicide Deaths, Study Shows – Mad in America
June 19, 2023
This article highlights findings from a recent study demonstrating the connection between suicide rates and socioeconomic factors such as unemployment, education inequality, and inadequate access to medical care. Researchers wanted to determine why suicide rates in the Americas were increasing when the rest of the world was seeing a decrease. They say, “Using 20 years of data, we identified the following contextual factors as having contributed to the suicide mortality rates in the region, namely: alcohol use, education inequality, health expenditure, homicide rate, intravenous drug use, number of employed medical doctors, population density, and unemployment rate.” The article goes on to talk about how suicide prevention efforts can be improved considering this data. Researchers write, “Multisectoral measures targeting health and social well-being in society, which are informed and developed using evidence on local contextual factors, should be emphasized in suicide prevention initiatives.”