Specialized team to help Wellington County families coping with complex grief after suicide

People in Wellington County who have lost a loved one to suicide will have a new place to turn for help.

The Canadian Mental Health Association in Waterloo-Wellington has teamed up with Ontario Provincial Police to put together a "Support After Suicide" team, which includes a police officer, a mental health clinician and a peer with their own experience of losing someone to suicide.

Often, people who've lost loved ones to suicide are left not knowing where to turn, said Cecilia Marie Roberts, suicide prevention project lead with the Canadian Mental Health Association in Waterloo-Wellington.

Feelings of shame and stigma can also make it hard for people to ask for help when they need it, she said.

"People have just sort of suffered along on their own, perhaps getting a little bit of support in different ways," said Roberts.

"This is a specialized team who understands the complex grief that can be associated with suicide and can really make a difference."

Roberts expects that the support team will play a crucial role in people's lives during the first year after a suicide, when they're still making sense of what happened.

Preventing tragedy

The additional support is especially important, given that losing someone in this way can itself be a risk factor for suicide, Roberts said.

"A big part of the focus of the program [is] to ensure that individuals …. are able to make meaning of this horrendous loss and move on to a new normal."

Roberts noted that people in rural areas also have particular challenges when it comes to mental illness.

A report released last month by the Canadian Institute for Health Information found that people in rural or remote areas were more likely to have a hospital stay for self-harm compared with those in urban areas.

A 2006 report by the same institute also found that people in rural communities were at a greater risk of suicide and that the risk was greatest among men.

Help available

The Support After Suicide team will reach out to those affected by suicide, and will be on hand to answer questions and to connect people with support groups, counselling and other resources.

Roberts said team members can also make presentations to community groups — such as workplaces and churches — that are dealing with a loss.

"Oftentimes, if someone dies, their workplace is hugely impacted," she said.

Roberts said specialized programs like this one are still not common, but she hopes that it can serve as a model going forward for other communities. The Support After Suicide program has been funded by a grant from the Ministry of the Solicitor General for a three-year term.

Referrals are available through Victim's Services, or directly from OPP. People can also connect with the team by calling the Canadian Mental Health Association or the Here 24/7 help line, at 1-844-437-3247. 

For people in Waterloo region, support is also available through the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council, Roberts said. 

Crisis Services Canada also provides suicide prevention and support at 1-833-456-4566.