Weekly News Roundup Nov. 25 – Dec. 1, 2023

Canada’s new 988 suicide-prevention helpline starts today. Here’s what you need to know  – Toronto Star
November 30, 2023
Three-digit dialing for Canada’s suicide crisis helpline launched last week on Thursday, Nov. 30. The helpline can now be reached at 9-8-8 via call or text 24/7. The helpline offers services in English and French and, through its connection to the Hope for Wellness Helpline, in Cree, Ojibwe and Inuktitut, too. 988 connects callers to 1000 trained responders in 39 partner agencies across the country. The helpline is expecting more than 30,000 calls and 10,000 texts in its first month.

Feds say they are still working on online harm bill following 12-year-old’s suicide – CBC
November 28, 2023
A 12-year-old boy’s recent suicide death has been linked to online sexual extortion. The federal government has been working on new legislation targeting online harm since 2019, but Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s public safety minister, said that it’s difficult to create laws addressing companies and people outside of Canadian borders. “It’s a complicated space to legislate in and on. But the urgency of moving, I think, is real,” LeBlanc said. Signy Arnason of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection says, “Parents are really engaged. Parents understand and are terrified about the risks their kids face online. We need these companies … to be held accountable for keeping their platforms safe, knowing that their kids are predominant users of them. We have got to start demanding, through government action, that these platforms are safer for kids to use.”

How have we grown numb to the suicide of Indigenous children? – Globe and Mail
November 27, 2023
Tanya Talaga, who delivered the CBC Massey Lectures in 2018 with a focus on youth suicide in Indigenous communities, calls attention to this still prevalent and urgent issue, which is not being sufficiently addressed. Children in Indigenous communities are still dying by suicide, most recently, Elaina Beardy, 11, of Kingfisher Lake First Nation in northern Ontario.  Beardy’s suicide is not the first to happen this year in the community. Beardy’s great-uncle and deputy Chief Lott Sainnawap says that cyberbullying and substance addiction is prevalent in Kingfisher. The community struggled with suicide in the 1980s and 1990s too, and was affected by convicted pedophile and Anglican priest Ralph Rowe. In Kingfisher and other communities there is a lack of a “wraparound mental health and wellbeing care.” Talaga says, “Flying counsellors in from elsewhere is a patchwork solution born from emergency. Children and their families need to be cared for and treated together, traditionally, out on the land and with Western medical support where needed. Our children and families need hope, a sense of belonging and pride in who they are, and our communities need to be in control of our own health care – not reliant on faraway governments and programs to kick-start healing. We need health care transformation. Only then can communities be given a chance to heal, so that we can live in a world where tragedies like Elaina’s death can be shocking again.”

Why Are Doctors at Greater Risk of Suicide? – Psychology Today
November 27, 2023
In this article Simon Sherry, PhD, professor,  Dalhousie University, explains why physicians have a greater suicide risk than those in the general population. One contributing factor is that physicians tend to have personality traits like perfectionism, neuroticism, and self-blame, all of which are linked to suicide risk. Job stress and burnout are also factors, as well as legal problems, access to lethal means, and stigma. Sherry explains, “They may also become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of death, illness, and injury and feel powerless against it. These types of experiences can have a severe mental and emotional toll on doctors. There is also a culture of ‘no mistakes allowed’ among doctors, and this constant vigilance can be extremely stressful. In fact, medical errors and high workloads are associated with suicidal ideation among doctors.” In the article, Sherry also explains why female physicians have a heightened risk of suicide risk which is out of the norm for women.