North Bay observes International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day

Today marks the International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. 

This year the Community Counselling Centre of Nipissing, Nipissing Mental Health and Housing Support Services and Victim Services of Nipissing District are collaborating on a campaign recognizing the significant grief of suicide loss. This year’s message is “because your life is worth living for.”

Kathleen Jodouin Executive Director of Victim Services of Nipissing District says, “It is deeply emotional to support survivors of suicide, to stand with them in their grief. It is important we recognize their loss and support them in their healing journey as for them life is not over”.

Community organizations are encouraged to display the campaign material available through Victim Services of Nipissing District. This year’s campaign imagery features a semi-colon which represents a sentence the author could’ve ended, but chose not to. The author is the survivor and the sentence is their life.

“It is important we recognize suicide loss as those who have passed have left behind friends, family, neighbours, and co-workers who are forced to reconcile how to continue to live their own lives in the wake of such a difficult death. We need to work as a community so as to avoid grieving in isolation” says Alan McQuarrie Executive Director of Community Counselling Centre of Nipissing.

“Suicide is still highly stigmatized in our community. It is important to unearth suicide loss from the burden of shame in order to validate survivor’s grief”, says Mary Davis Executive Director of Nipissing Mental Health and Housing Support Services. This year’s campaign hopes to be a source of comfort and validation for survivors of suicide.  

According to the Ontario Association of Suicide Prevention, in Canada approximately 6,000 suicides are carried out each year. Approximately one in four people know someone who has died by suicide.