Ripples of positive change felt in North Battleford after 'shell shock' of suicide tragedies

May 15, 2018 Admin Health 0

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School counsellor Melissa Fuhr says a spate of youth suicides earlier this year hit teenagers in North Battleford like “shell shock.”

Now, she says, they’re settling into a “different normal.”

“They definitely were affected and very sad and very, just really taken aback but they bounced back,” said Fuhr, who works with students at the John Paull II Collegiate high school.

“They still care about each other and they’re managing really well.”

Annual walk evolves

Fuhr and a group of 20 high school students were part of a crowd that huddled under umbrellas to shelter from the drizzle that settled over North Battleford last Tuesday.

The group was taking part in the annual Walk for Awareness, which started many years ago to recognize residents of a local psychiatric hospital who were ready to transition into their own homes.

The event has since evolved into a general walk to raise awareness about mental health, and that mission has intensified after a series of tragedies since the start of 2018.

Three young people took their own lives in the span of a month ending at some point in January.  A school leader reports another two suicides have occurred since January.

The first spate of deaths sparked a community response and the creation of Better Together, a new youth support group focused on mental health.

Collaborative response

The group comprises youth and faith groups, schools, sporting groups and the provincial ministries of social services and corrections and policing.

You’re always gonna have people who don’t understand and they don’t look at you the same if they find out you have a mental illness.– Charmaine Dosch, former resident of Saskatchewan Hospital

About 300 people attended a community meeting in January and social workers say the tragedies have led to a shift in attitudes toward mental health in North Battleford, which is about 130 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

Fuhr said the young people at John Paul II Collegiate have stepped up to support their fellow students.

“They really want to step up and help get the message out to each other and to the community about how important it is to take care of each other and to take care of themselves,” said Fuhr.

Training amid trauma

Brenda Vickers, the director of education at the Living Sky School Division, said the division has ramped up training for teachers to help them cope in situations where students are experiencing trauma.

She agrees that people in the community are now speaking more openly about mental health, adding that there is a stronger “bond” between agencies.

Vickers added that some support agencies now have a stronger visual presence at the school.

Although the schools appear to be running as normal, Vickers believes that is probably not the case.

“Outwardly, it looks like things are running relatively normally but I think probably, you know, it’s not back to normal.”

She echoed Fuhr’s comments that perhaps the community is living in a “new normal”, where there is a heightened awareness about suicide and mental health.

The Living Sky School Division has written to the provincial government to request more mental health resources.

Walk participant lost 2 relatives

Sylvia Duhaime, who has lost two relatives to suicide in the past four years, participated in the walk for awareness last Tuesday.

“People have become really aware, with that large number of suicides happening in this community, and they want to do something about it,” said Duhaime.

Duhaime’s grandson Cody was 19 when he took his own life during his second year of college in Illinois. Her brother-in-law, Robert Duhaime, died last year.

She said their deaths had changed her as well.

“I feel that I’m certainly a lot more open person and I really want to help and make other people aware that there’s options,” said Duhaime.

“I think I’ve changed and become a lot more compassionate and I try to be more understanding with the mental health community in general.”

Speaking more freely

Charmaine Dosch is a former resident of the Saskatchewan Hospital for psychiatric patients.

“You’re always gonna have people who don’t understand and they don’t look at you the same if they find out you have a mental illness,” said Dosch.

“But with Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and Sask. Hospital and Battlefords Union Hospital, they give you a sense of security.”

Mental health at schools

Dosch hopes to see mental health nurses employed at North Battleford schools, and at schools in rural areas, to help young people seek help at a younger age.

Having grown up in a small town about an hour’s drive from Saskatoon, she did not have access to mental health supports in her community.

“There was nothing in our school for that, we didn’t have a guidance counsellor, we didn’t have mental health nurses, we didn’t have psychiatrists, you had to go to Saskatoon.”

Dosch has now been living on her own for a year and a half in a secure building that is also home to other people with mental illness.

She believes better access to counselling would have helped her tackle her mental illness at a younger age.

Helping people feel safe

Jane Zielke de Montbrun is the executive director of the CMHA Battlefords branch.  

She said an event called Sick Not Weak in March was so well-supported by the North Battleford community that about $ 34,000 was raised for the CMHA.

Zielke de Montbrun said those funds will go towards education and providing tools for people who are working directly with youth to help prevent a similar tragedy happening again.

“I think the more we talk about it, the more we present ourselves as somebody that they can come and talk to and feel comfortable talking to,” she said.

“But most importantly to feel safe, that’s a good thing.”

Read more here: CBC | Health News

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