By Stephanie MacLellan - The Chronicle-Journal
March 13, 2005

Suicide is no longer a criminal act, but the word
still carries a legacy of
shame that can stop people from getting help.

Dr. Paul Mulzer, a psychiatrist at Lakehead
Psychiatric Hospital, thinks it
has to do with the stigma that surrounds mental
illness in general.

"People don't refer to diabetes as a failure of the pancreas, but they refer
to depression as a failure of will-power or self-discipline," he said.
"It's a real misinterpretation, and seeing it as a non-medical condition when, in
fact, it's very medical."

Brenda Simpson, a social worker in suicide
prevention for more than a decade,
sees an attitude of silence around suicide in
particular. She thinks it's left over from the days in which
suicide was considered a sin, and a cause
for shame for the family. She notes that to this day,
coroners won't always report suicide as a cause of death,
instead calling the death an accident.
'If someone says, "We're not going to say it's suicide to protect
you," it shows there's a reason to be protected," she said.

There are also assumptions about the type of person that commits suicide.
For instance, it's well known that suicide rates are tragically high
among the aboriginal population.
But Simpson cautions against assuming it's a native problem.
"Then you don't have to own it (if you're not native)," she said.
It's very similar to the AIDS epidemic when it first started.
"Oh, it's the gay community. . . And we didn't have to worry about it affecting us.

This can also stop people from finding help for
others who may be suicidal,
if they don't fit any of the most common categories, Simpson said.

Another problem is that suicide is seen as a
behaviour that must be stopped,
rather than a feeling that can be talked about and
worked through.
It is terrifying . . . when someone tells you they're thinking about dying.

But at the same time, it doesn't mean they're going to die.
It's just something they're feeling," she said.
"If we think about it as a feeling, it's not scary, and a feeling needs to be talked about. . . .
Once it's a behaviour, it's beyond talking about."

She'd like to see more people discuss suicide, and not just in emergencies.
If people know their friends and family are comfortable talking about it,
they'll be more likely to bring it up if they need help.

"You need to talk to your teenagers about suicide when they're happy,"
she said. If you can just put it on the table and talk about it generally,
you let them know that door is open.

Or even among adult friends - how often do we talk about it?
The LPH has been working with family doctors to prevent suicide, partly
because people are often more comfortable in their doctor's office.
The shared care program has family doctors identify patients who might be at risk,
and then psychiatrists assess the patients in the more comfortable confines of the doctor's office.

The Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital is steeped in a
lot of history, and that's worrisome to people," Mulzer said.
We find even with our shared care model,
when we go out to a family practice office, there are people we see
there who we wouldn't see here.

The hospital is also working with non-medical
professions to raise awareness,
so teachers, employers and co-workers can see the
warning signs and get help for the people who need it.

"I think it does make it more open," he said.
'People are more comfortable with it,
and not as likely to say, "It's not my responsibility.'"

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