CFN – Suicide. This week two of my local competing media are whaling about the suicide of Cornwallite Christopher Clarke in a Montreal prison. Condolences to the family and the issue is being investigated, but it’s odd and seems quite hypocritical for the Seaway News and Standard Freeholder to write about and highlight this higher profile suicide that didn’t occur in Cornwall. Names are never mentioned nor the term even written in local suicide incidences.
Cornwall for those that don’t know like many communities has a rising suicide rate. Many people would not know that because it’s frowned upon to write about it or talk about it.
From our railroad tracks to the bridge to the other mainstream ways people who have grown despondent take their lives is on the rise.
We have tried several times to get accurate information and statistics only to be ignored or blocked by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Mental Health services and yes, even at times by the police.
That’s not meant to be a direct or even indirect attack; but surely if there is a problem and we all turn away or stick our heads in the sand it won’t be resolved?
Is it the pack mentality where we just silently let those that can’t keep up slip away or the utter blackness of knowing that most of the issues that lead to that horrible choice that creates so many innocent victims simply can’t be addressed by the system for lack of resources?
In the meanwhile some media make big headlines out a case simply because it didn’t occur in “our backyard.” Shame on them for exploiting a tragic event without really focusing on the issue.
Has your life been touched by suicide? You can post your comments below.
Well at least the other media are sorta putting the police out there for something other than a pose, a donation, or some bullshit school seminar trying to get them to rat their parenjts out.
Society today is not what it used to be. I don’t know what people are going to do when things get worse economically and can’t face up to reality of life. My parents and much older sisters lived through the 30’s Great Depression and they survived and it was hell but they did it and it made them into much better people for having gone through the hardships. People today are mighty spoiled and without all their junk they would be lost completely.
The people of Cornwall always wanted to stay put where they are and never wanted to venture out somewhere else like what I did and I don’t mind going elsewhere even at my age. I have left Cornwall back in the early to mid 70’s and it was a good omen. You don’t sit and become depressed but you move on in life. The very vast majority of the people that I knew from high school are all gone from Cornwall. People went to colleges and universities elsewhere and never went back and for mighty good reasons. So many in Cornwall turn to alcohol and drugs and those are depressants and they make their own lives worse as well as their families. The answer to those problems is move on elsewhere and don’t look back. Life goes on and life doesn’t wait for any of us.
There is a lot of mental illness in Cornwall and of course everywhere but there is a huge problem in Cornwall and most people know that they are sick but don’t want to seek help or that there is none for them. Get help and don’t do like the parents of a young girl from the Rockliffe section of Ottawa whose father was in the Senators Hockey and the young girl of 14 took her life. Stop thinking that it is a stigma of some sort and seek help. It is a disease like any other kind and can be treated – not a cure but treated.
I knew a family in Eastern Ontario who son had been prescribed anti-depressant . . . . then he ended his life. I did a google search by typing the name of the anti-depressant followed by ‘suicide’ . . . and a plethora of information came up. Some 14-million kids across North America are on some form of prescription anti-depressant . . . to make sure that “they will behave themselves in class”.
Most of the diagnosis is very subjective and open to wide interpretations . . . except that it certainly helps boost the earnings of politically well-connected pharmaceutical companies.
I’ve also known people who, as a result of life circumstances, lost hope and were gripped by despair. I’ve also had the privilege of having known pastors who seemed to have had the gift of being able to lift people from their state of despair . . . using scriptural teachings . . . and empower people to be more resilient and “get back up on their feet . . after having been knocked down by a life blow”.
I believe that Government resources have been continually reduced that could help those with mental disorders all for the sake of money but yet waste it hand over foot
Mr. Valentine you said the truth about the pharmaceutical companies and they along with the doctors push these meds on people like as if they were candy. Some people do end up dead. You would all be surprised how many people are afflicted with mental illness these days. We see so many people walking around like zombies not knowing where they are at times. How many times do people look at TV and all there are are commercials about different drugs and they tell the side effects. I think that one of the best things to do is go out and walk and get away from the usual problems and rat races or even to talk to people about their problems like a psychiatrist and psychologist. That is much better than drugs any day.
If you go to Europe and other countries you do not see so many people on prescription drugs nor the amount of mental illnesses that we have here in North America. I keep asking myself why is North America so afflicted with all these diseases. My husband has said that since the beginning when he first came over to Canada and said how we have so much here in Canada and the US and the rest of the world has so little and people elsewhere are more happy than they are here in N. America. I would really like to know why so many are afflicted here with mental illness and other diseases. People are so depressed and in other places people have more family support and this could be part of the answer compared to families here that are so distanced from one another. I keep asking myself the same questions. My husband says that we have too much here and that we are spoiled and that is one of the reasons because people get so fed up with everything and such a rat race. When we went to the bird sancturary it was so nice and peaceful.
I went out with my daughter and came back an hour ago and talk about noise and pollution and it was like walking from Cornwall to Long Sault and back. I am exhausted now and have to get things done just now but you don’t know how lucky you are to have such tranquility. People were leaving the city being Friday and it is TGIF day when the dead come alive as what we used to say in the Fed. LOL LOL. I feel dead now so going to get things done.
I was on a low dosage of Paxil for a year about ten years ago. It saved my life.
Jamie pens:
“We have tried several times to get accurate information and statistics only to be ignored or blocked by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Mental Health services and yes, even at times by the police.”
My fellow Canadian citizens ask yourselves this: Would this be happening in a free and democratic society? Examine the trouble that CFN has experienced over these last few years from the City of Cornwall alone! From my take, it sounds like CFN has already navigated some murky waters bordering on the Freedom of the Press. To me, we’re increadingly appearing like we have not only now a loss of the Freedom of Expression, but now it’s looking like the Freedom of Information is being threatened as well. What’s next, Freedom of Association? How about each time the LFA holds a peaceful protest the Cornwall Police are called? Why has not a single director of any of these facilities that LFA has picketed ever approached LFA leaders and questioned them about their legitimate concerns? Do they even care? I have to question the leadership of these organizations and ask if they snicker continously behind closed doors. One is reminded of one bad child, exclaiming, ‘na na na na boo boo’ to the other child whilst the parent is preoccupied with something else…
We do what we do because we want the public to see our concerns first hand. There are no back room deals as far as we’re concerned.
The same cannot be said about those who speak against us on forums such as the ones provided by CFN. Have you folks from the public ever questioned why it is that we don’t even know an iota of truth about a single one of the individual’s who write bad things about us; LFA members? These people won’t even give us their real names but instead spend all hours of the day writing propaganda blogs denouncing us as all kinds of things.
Stranger still, I have yet to see a single written LTE from any of them? Is it that they do not have the ability to do so? As far as this argumentative approach is, I would have to disagree because we’ve seen far too much digital ink spilled from them to argue that concern firsthand.
In any case, some thoughts for you, the public at large to ponder over this fine cool evening….
Cory
My heart goes out to all suffering from mental illness, or an inability to cope. Please know some of us care very deeply about you. Get help Please.. We need you to stick around and help build a good place to live. ” Out thoughts are with you”
Folks does highlander, yorlik, CC2, English lassie, to name a few sound like real names or are they monikers?
Gee…..funny how this freedom fighter only focuses on certain people……..tunnel vision again.
cory……… What does your post have to do with this suicide article?
I just scrolled up and noticed….sorry folks.
Cory, in order not to stray away to far from the subject,
I’ve posted my response to your above post in LTE .
If your interested in my response.
Thank-You,
Isn’t there a mental ward at the new CCH which was the former Hotel Dieu Hospital. I thought that there were more psychiatrists in Cornwall than family practitioners. Cornwall has a very big illegal drug problem and many people are very depressed and it is enough to be depressed when there is no opportunities to turn to and jobs go to only certain people and everyone else is left out in the cold. I know all about that since I went through that experience and we left and never to regret it nor to look back. You go onwards and look ahead. Cornwall does business in a very backward manner and even doctors don’t want to go there and practice medicine – it depresses everyone.
My god Jules you are so worldly and knowledgeable about EVERYTHING! I don’t think there is an article written that you don’t have something absolutely astounding to say. We are so very fortunate and thankful to have you enlighten us about your many adventures and clarifications. Please think that there are other people out there that might get tired of your rantins. I am.
Rantings
Miss Steak I will continue to tire you out. Thank you for letting me know so that way I will continue on my rantings.
I also live in a small town with a high suicide rate. We never hear or read about any of them in our news media. This is one of the things that get swept under the rug…. because why? Bad for our state of mind to know there are problems out there? Bad for tourism? Who wants to visit a place where it’s own citizens remove their life from the town? No one wants to be depressed by depressing news? We don’t want to give our kids any ideas or glorified thoughts of suicide?
Keeping suicides out of the media just helps people keep their heads in the sand. If it’s not in the news you don’t think about it, and by not thinking about it, we are raising societies who are ignorant about the severity of mental illness.
A side effect of anti-depressants is that it may increase suicidal thoughts…. umm personally speaking, if I didn’t have those thoughts I wouldn’t need the drug. The thoughts are already there, it is NOT a side effect. Anti-depressants saves the lives of most people that suffer from a chemical imbalance. In THIS town, no one will help you unless it’s your family Doctor and unless you are pregnant or dying, the receptionists at the Doctors’ offices won’t even make you an appointment, they just put you on a “list” that they file under G at the end of the week. If you ARE lucky enough to get a referral to a psychiatrist, you are told it’s only part of a “study” and not long term. For long term help you have to look outside of your town. Not everyone has the means for commuting to a city for an hour a week. You could call a hotline, but other than the fact that they exist, most people have no idea what a hotline could do for them.
….. A lot of suicides may be because people feel they have no place to turn. Are people happier having suicides pushed under the rug?
Or are we denying the mentally ill information about valuable resources that could save their lives by being open and honest about mental illness and it’s affects.
I am sorry about the length of my comment. I have never left a comment on anything before, but I feel very passionate toward this topic.
Many years ago, inspirational author Og Mandino (Greatest Salesman in the World, Greatest Miracle in the World) told his life story . . . . he was down and broken man who spent his last few dollars on a gun, to end his life. He made one final stop at a local library where some one had left a magazine on a table, near the entrance. It was an inspirational magazine from the W Clement Stone organization . . . Mandino described how the contents of that magazine brought him back from the brink of suicide. He later went to work for the W Clement Stone organization.
Author Dr Viktor Frankl had been a prisoner of war in the concentration camps during WW2 . . . his treatise entitiled MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING is regarded as one of the most significant books on psychology written during the 20th century. In the first section, Frankl describes techniques he used to save prisoners from ending their lives through suicide . . . many of whom were set free at the end of WW2 and lived to do somethiing worthwhile with their lives.
Mr. Harry Valentine that is a good story that you told and yes many people who went through the concentration camps of WW2 did move on with their lives and were successful. Nobody should ever go into huge depressions thinking that there is no way out. A lot of successful people had failures and hardships in their lives. If you really want to get ahead there are ways. Whatever the outcome you never go to the point of suicide. Life is worth living and is a gift from the Good Lord.