CMHA Kelowna

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), in partnership with London Drugs, is urging British Columbians to “ask about suicide” and become more suicide aware by going to www.askaboutsuicide.ca.

Research shows that in many cases suicide can be prevented and that it is not just health care professionals who are qualified to reach out and help someone in crisis – we all have the ability to help save a life.

The focus of CMHA’s Ask About Suicide online awareness campaign, is to empower people from all walks of life with the confidence, knowledge and skills to be able to reach out to those most at risk which, statistically, is men in their 40s and 50s. This age group year after year experiences the highest number of suicides nationally (Statistics Canada, 2014) and while there are far more attempts made by females, males take their own lives four times more often. In fact, the latest statistics reveal that in Canada, 75% of those who died by suicide were male.

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about suicide and the Ask About Suicide online campaign aims to replace these with facts and practical information for anyone who has concerns that a loved one, colleague, friend, neighbour or even customer may be considering suicide. The campaign seeks to grow sign-ups for suicide prevention training courses being offered around the province.

CMHA is launching Ask About Suicide in partnership with London Drugs. The partnership involves training local pharmacists to respond to the signs of suicide as well as providing resource materials throughout all of London Drugs’ 80 stores from Manitoba through to British Columbia.

For more information on suicide prevention and awareness and upcoming training courses go to www.askaboutsuicide.ca.