STATISTICS
- The CPSQ is made up of a team of professionals specialized in suicide prevention who are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The CPSQ provides direct services to the public.
- A team of professional suicide prevention responders from the CPSQ goes into the living environment of suicidal persons.
- Each year, more than 22,000 telephone interventions are carried out at the CPSQ.
- 48% of calls received at the CPSQ are from men.
- About 2 people take their lives every week in Québec City.
- Every day, nearly 3 Quebecers take their lives.
- In 2016, the number of suicides totalled 1,046 people :
- 803 were men;
- 243 were women.
- During the period from 2014 to 2016, the suicide rate of men and women increased with age to peak among people aged 50 to 64.
- Since 2015, the highest suicide rate has been observed in men aged 50 to 64. This rate seems to have been stable for several years.
Source : INSPQ – Update 2019
* Tel-Jeunes 2016
**INSPQ – Update 2014
- 1 in 5 adolescents considered suicide in the past 12 months.*
- Suicide is a significant cause of premature death in Quebec.**
- The death rate per suicide is twice as high as the road mortality rate.**
- Suicide is a phenomenon that, to varying degrees, affects all age groups and social classes.
- The suicide rate gradually increases with the increase of material and social inequalities.
- Do you need help for yourself or a loved one? 1-866-APPELLE.
WARNING
Nowadays, it is very easy to find information on the internet. However, you need to be cautious about how you use this information. You cannot become a practitioner by simply consulting information on the web. If you need help, be aware that reading on the internet cannot replace the help you can get from a professional.
Suicide is a complex issue, and every situation is unique. Accurately answering all the questions that suicide raises is hard. Some basic information can nevertheless help you gain a better understanding.
HOW CAN SOMEONE END UP CONTEMPLATING SUICIDE?
Suicide is multifactorial
Everyone eventually faces suffering. Indeed, pain, like happiness, is part of life. However, behind the distress that the person is experiencing is a life story that must be considered. When talking about suicide, you must remember that there is not one cause that leads to it but a set of factors. Each person’s life history means that, to varying degrees, they will have the tools needed to cope with a specific hardship. Developing and maintaining healthy lifestyles and tending toward balance allows us to be better equipped to cope with the tough times in life.
A Critical Period
Sometimes an event occurs and destabilizes the person, which triggers an imbalance (e.g. heartbreak, academic troubles, hard times at work, grieving, etc.). When people encounter difficulties, they try to get through them in various ways and with different approaches. People who are going through hard times are constantly trying to find ways to deal with their suffering, regain their balance and emerge from the situation.
Finding approaches that work can take some time; this can go faster with the help of a practitioner, who enables getting through hardships by identifying approaches to deal with suffering that suit you.
Impaired Faculties
In some situations, the means identified by people in distress are no longer enough to reduce their suffering or are not adapted to the situation. They are no longer able to manage their distress. They have gone through their personal resources and exhausted all the means they thought were available to them. In this case, people may feel more overwhelmed by hardship and suffering. Like a person who has consumed alcohol, people in distress also find themselves impaired by suffering. Therefore, it prevents them from thinking clearly about their situation.
. Moreover, no longer knowing how to get out of the situation, they desperately seek a way to lessen their distress and stop the suffering. At that point, outside help is necessary to enable them to find new, effective approaches (physician, psychologist, employee assistance program, social worker, local community service centre, Sentinel, etc.).
Suicidal ideas = warning sign
Even briefly appearing suicidal ideas are a warning sign. This warning sign indicates that mental distress is increasing and the usual approaches to dealing with hardships are no longer enough; this means that the person should seek outside help. This warning sign must be taken seriously. Outside help will enable this person to identify ways to lessen his or her suffering.
