You don’t have to handle this alone. There are many resources available for Edmontonians who are struggling, those who are are supporting others in need of mental health aide, those who have lost a loved one to suicide or those who would like to learn more about the issue.
Centre for Suicide Prevention is an education centre and a branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. It provides education online, in print, and interactively.
The mission of the Centre for Suicide Prevention is to educate to save lives through suicide prevention by equipping people with the knowledge and skills to respond to those at risk of suicide. See their Resources for many different types of resources, from infographics to in-depth editorial articles.
Alberta Health Services- Edmonton Zone provides a variety of programs and services for those struggling with substance use, addictions or mental health problems in the city of Edmonton and the capital region.
Help in Tough Times – View Article
Preventing Suicide – View Article
Togetherall – A free, anonymous, online mental health support community, available 24/7 – Register here
The Canadian Mental Health Association- Edmonton region promotes the mental health of all and supports the resilience and recovery of people experiencing mental illness and their families through advocacy, education, research, services and supports.
Preventing Suicide – View Article
Critical Incident Group Debriefing Services – Visit Site
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) maintains an ongoing commitment to life promotion and suicide prevention and they have created a range of evidence-based resources for Canadians.
The Community Mental Health Action Plan has developed a Mental Health Training Framework as a local guide to help professionals identify training and resources to support the development of knowledge, behavioural and activating competencies that are essential to support and promote mental health.
Need Help for Mental Health? This is a navigation tool to be used by anyone to help themselves or others connect to mental health and social services in their community by reading through the questions and seeing which services meet their needs. The tool can be customized and is available in several different languages.
The Tough Enough to Talk About It program was developed to work towards reducing the rate of suicide within the trades, industry and agriculture sectors. Participants are provided information about how to offer help and link those with mental health concerns to resources, and the opportunity to improve the overall health and safety of their workplace.
The Reducing Male Suicide Reserach Excellence Cluster aims to address men’s mental health inequities, optimize men’s mental health help-seeking experience, and equip community-based and professional mental-health care services to expertly evaluate and treat men’s mental illnesses and suicidality.
For every person who dies by suicide, multiple people are significantly impacted. Many of us have loved someone, whose loss as a result of suicide, remains with us for the duration of our lives.
Some news organizations still have policies against covering suicide – policies that are often broken when newsworthy suicides occur. This traditional taboo is now out of step with recommended practice. For more information on how to cover suicide in the news, see the Mindset Reporting on Mental Health, The Canadian Journalism Form on Violence and Trauma.
See this list of Do’s and Don’ts for a reporting on mental health and suicide checklist.
See this tip sheet for communicating about suicide. It provides public awareness, education and communication strategies are designed to target beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.
See this tip sheet for communicating about suicide on social media.
