Suicide Statistics
November 26th, 2009
Personal
The Toronto SUN recently released a number of stories regarding the TTC and suicide, namely the subway suicide death toll and a TTC train driver’s account of a suicide. There has been quite a bit of chatter on some social media sites regarding the statistics and why they should have, or shouldn’t have been released.
Personally, I’m all for the release of any statistics — particularly ones that relate to suicide, depression and things that are generally (or frequently) left out of the discussion for whatever reason. Often they’re considered taboo within societies and are closely guarded to prevent copycats. I’m on the opposite end of the argument myself, having been suicidal for a number of years previous: The topic does hit close to home.
My argument is that suicidal people don’t need to hear these statistics to know that suicide by bus, train or any other method is viable: We already spend our days thinking of ways of killing ourselves, how it will affect our families, friends and those around us — or worse, concerns about how it won’t have any effect on them. What suicidal people need is more open discussion, thought, and the topic being less taboo so we have outlets and people we can discuss it with, without feeling alone.
Society needs to be social in order to help one another with their problems.
Pretending they don’t exist is no solution, it only allows them to propagate.
Add your comments.
Sobering statistics:
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Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Canadians between the ages of 10 and 24
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According to a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), more men in Ontario committed suicide in the past 10 years than died in car crashes
13 Responses
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noname November 26, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I have a family member who is part of that statistic. Its hard to see something was a tragic event (to me) years ago, now being published as just a statistic, but that’s what people do. We have death/crime/etc. statistics for a lot of events. I don’t see why this is any different.
I don’t know you (came across this link on a tweet) but I hope you don’t go down the path of becoming that statistic. Take care
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And understand I make these statements as someone who has been suicidal before, and still have some lingering thoughts to this day. What would have assisted me in getting through the rougher times would have been knowing that my thoughts & battles weren’t just that of my own, and that they were things other people had dealt with before — and managed to survive.
How often do you hear of a suicidal ’survival’ story? Consider that. We hear of people surviving battles with nature, hostage situations and Taco Bell.
People who are suicidal think that they’ve got two options, kill themselves or somehow endure it. During my darkest battles, reaching out to some cold phoneline (or hotline, as they refer to them) was the least of my desires.
We only hear of suicide as being the way out for bankers, politicians who’ve pissed of mafia bosses — rarely do we hear of Joe Blow, someone who had nothing in the first place.
Even in our innermost circles of friends rarely is anything beyond seasonal depression ever discussed — ‘feeling under the weather’ doesn’t tend to include ‘had a knife to my wrist just last night’.
We become islands unto ourselves that begin to detach from society until we’ve got no support network left. I honestly blame part of that on the topic being as taboo as it is.
Just my two cents.
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Excellent point, David — well put. We need more discussion about suicide, not less. And if reporting about it starts those discussions, so much the better.
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Great post Dave. Thanks for sharing a more compelling and introspective perspective.
I agree with you. A similar argument often arises about violence depicted in television and film. Eliminating these depictions doesn’t eliminate the violence just as eliminating/hiding suicide statistics doesn’t eliminate suicide.
Kudos to you for your two cents! Thanks for sharing.
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Pretty sure your two cents is worth millions to a lot of other people. Brave words Dave.
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Jackie November 26, 2009 at 5:10 pm
“Society needs to be social in order to help one another with their problems. Pretending they don’t exist is no solution, it only allows them to propagate.”
I couldn’t agree more with that statement. And thanks to you for posting this.
If topics like this were discussed more openly, maybe less people would feel too ashamed to ask for help when they need it.
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Great post! You’ve captured the same sentiment I was feeling but you are much more articulate then I am.
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David. Thank you for this post. I hear you. I tried to commit suicide, at the age of 14. AFter a few days in the hospital, I was told that it was probably hormonal (despite chronic depression from childhood onwwards), and to tell nobody “what I did.”
Years later, I spent long periods obsessed with thoughts of self-harm (and acting on them at times), and suicide, to the point of requiring inpatient care at CAMH. What saved me was working in the mood disorders field, and having a co-worker recognize the symptoms to get me help. Otherwise, I don’t know if I’d still be here today.
To this day, I don’t know if I will ever be able to function normally without some kind of combination of antidepressants and anti-anxiolytics.
It feels. So. Good. To get this out in the open. To talk about it. When we don’t talk about it, we give in to the idea that mental disorders are a source of shame. Or that related statistics shouldn’t be reported so that no one has to think twice about why the “subway is temporarily delayed due to an obstruction on the tracks”.
I’d be more eloquent and write more, but this afternoon’s conversation has severely worsened my migraine and I can barely see the screen through all the perceptual disturbances in my field of vision.
Take care.
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As someone who has been both suicidal, and someone who has lost several friends to suicide, I commend you for sharing your thoughts David. Great post, and as you know, I’m a vocal advocate of speaking up & out, regardless of what it’s about.
Congratulations on all you have achieved, I can’t wait to see what you takeover next!
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I think the shame and expectation of condescending glances is what forces most to turn ‘inward’.
Even these comments alone tell me that it’s not something that should be hid under cover, it should be open for scrutiny.
I can’t imagine how many lives could have potentially been saved if these issues were open and we were all upfront about it. We are asked by authorities to talk to our kids about drugs, alcohol and sex — when’s the last time suicide was mentioned?
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I appreciate all of your comments — it means a tonne, and I’m positive even more of the people reading this post right now have been there.
No need to hide.
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Dave,
thank you for standing up and being the other voice in the darkness many others have been looking for.Suicide, depression and other mental illnesses are often treated as dirty secrets and cause for embarrassment which means lots of people who should be able to get help don’t reach out before things get really bad.
I too have lost someone in my family to suicide and have friends with mental illnesses ranging from depressions to bipolar disorders.
We all struggle with something, why is H1N1 more socially acceptable than depression?
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