Suicide rates in N.S. are at an all time high. Advocates want more prevention
'It's happening younger. It's happening older. It's just everywhere now,' says Kelly Mae Mitchell
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Kelly Mae Mitchell refers to a photo of a Yarmouth-area girls soccer team from several years ago, noting that three of the young girls have since died — all by suicide.
One of them was her 14-year-old daughter, Aidaen.
It's a tragic illustration of a worsening issue in Nova Scotia: suicide rates that have risen to record levels.
"It's scary. It's happening younger. It's happening older," said Mitchell. "It's just everywhere now."
More Nova Scotians than ever before died by suicide last year, according to data from the Nova Scotia government. The data says 155 people in the province died by suicide in 2022, up from 142 the year before.
The figures are not surprising to Mitchell, who opened a youth and wellness centre in Yarmouth — called Aidaen's Place — following her daughter's death in 2019.
The centre welcomes children ages nine to 17, providing programs to learn life skills and opportunities to be involved in community activities.
"I've seen this pattern. I know it's there," said Mitchell, adding that a number of young people in southwestern Nova Scotia have died by suicide in the last five years.
"But there's no one answer…. Everybody — every system, every organization, every entity, every family member — there's something we all have to do to help."
Dr. Simon Sherry, a professor in the psychology and neuroscience department at Dalhousie University, called the increase "alarming" and said the government needs to be doing more to prevent suicides.
He said although the provincial government does have a suicide prevention "framework," he would like to see a suicide prevention strategy, similar to what legislators in Quebec have created, including timelines and funding.
That province's strategy was implemented in 1998 and included outreach through a crisis line and extensive patient followup. Overall suicide rates were reduced by about 30 per cent while youth suicide rates were cut in half.
"We're not protecting some of our most vulnerable citizens, and it's a clear pattern of complacency," said Sherry.
Nova Scotia's framework, approved in 2020, includes 20 recommendations organized by issues including improving suicide-related data monitoring, identifying and supporting populations at risk and strengthening the health system.
Sherry, who is also a clinical psychologist at CRUX Psychology in Halifax, said more money needs to be put into mental health supports, calling the current system "underfunded and overburdened."
"And because of that, people are falling through the cracks," he said. "We have a moral responsibility to do better and to provide them with reasonable protection."
Sherry said a cornerstone of any provincial strategy should be what is referred to as "means reduction," which he said has been proven to prevent suicides.
It means limiting access to the means in which people die by suicide. This could include preventing access to guns, dispensing medications differently so it's harder for people to overdose, and in jails and hospitals where people are prone to dying by hanging, reducing ligature points.
For Mitchell, she has found from personal experience that suicide prevention starts at home.
She said there is a lack of resiliency among youth in today's society, and feels that has led to more severe mental health issues among children who are not used to confronting struggles.
New mental health programs launched
She used her own daughter as an example: she excelled in school, was part of multiple sports teams and had "everything she needed in life."
"She's never had a struggle…. We really failed by not having her fail and learn from it," said Mitchell, encouraging parents to set boundaries and teach their children from an early age what it means to say "no."
She also encouraged parents who might suspect that their child has a mental health issue to get them help as early as possible.
Nova Scotia Minister of Addictions and Mental Health Brian Comer declined an interview request.
The associate deputy minister of health, Kathleen Trott, told CBC News that the government is not planning a dedicated suicide prevention strategy, but she said efforts to create universal access to mental health care and addictions support will "certainly have components related to" suicide prevention and meeting the same objectives of a dedicated strategy.
"And we're using data to help inform what those things need to be," Trott said in an interview Tuesday following an appearance at the legislature's standing committee on health.
The province's suicide rates demonstrate why it's so important to continue to focus on access to the system at all levels, she said.
"So not just being there in crisis, but being there before crisis; being there earlier in folks' journey to help them manage their illness and not get to the point where they're contemplating suicide.'
Marketing campaign planned for men
Universal access to mental-health and addictions services was a campaign promise of the Progressive Conservatives in the last provincial election. Trott told the committee that although work on the pledge continues, there is not a firm timeline for when it will be accomplished.
The province recently launched a new program focused on early intervention treatment for a range of mental health disorders.
The government also touted the opening of the Dalhousie Centre for Psychological Health on Tuesday, which it says will increase access to addictions and mental health services in the province.
Trott said the government also works with partners, such as the Canadian Mental Health Association, on the issue.
In the data for last year, suicide rates were highest among men — 114 of the 155 deaths were men. Trott told the committee that the provincial government will launch a marketing campaign in the fall aimed at men in the 45-59 age range.
"It's really [about] helping men see that it's safe to take action for themselves and it's OK to have a conversation."
If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to get help:
- The provincial mental health crisis line can be reached at 1-888-429-8167 or by dialing 911.
- Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566 (phone) | 45645 (text between 4 p.m. and midnight ET).
- Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 (phone), live chat counselling on the website.
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.
- This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you're worried about.
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With files from Michael Gorman