scrubbedexpat091

Suicide rates for the first 6 months this year in Alberta jumped 25% compared to the same period in 2014. Data isn't available yet for the latter part of the year.

Suicide rate in Alberta up 30% in wake of mass oilpatch layoffs - Calgary - CBC News

leith

Very sad. We used to live in Alberta. Some of our friends there have been laid off and are struggling. Companies are going out of business or declaring bankruptcy. This NDP government should be providing training and funding to help people get back on their feet stead of hammering them with the effects of a carbon tax. Not much of a Christmas for a lot of folks there who are out of a job and have no more EI. BC is supposed to have the most flourishing economy right now so maybe we'll see an exodus to the west.

scrubbedexpat091

I haven't noticed much of a down turn here, seems things are pretty much the same as always.

Seems to be a fair amount of training programs available to folks who are unemployed and have been on EI in the last 3 years or currently on EI, so folks on EI could take advantage of those programs.

Downside is there isn't much assistance for re-training if one hasn't been on or currently on EI.

In our little micro-economy there appears to be no slow down considering how fast houses are selling, and commercial space going up.

Shard

Tharts really shocking to see that in a small population like Alberta, suiciides are already in the hundreds.

scrubbedexpat091

Mental health care in Canada is really underfunded, and can take months to access and with the stigma strong and well in Canada, many never seek help, or they give up frustrated because access can be so difficult.


BC is in the hundreds per year as well, between 2002 and 2011 average per year is 501.

Men make up the majority with avg of 378 vs 123 for women.

Vast majority are adults over 19. Under 19 avg is 18 per year.

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/coroners/r...ts-suicide.pdf


Then you have the untold numbers of attempts who survive who may or may not receive help.

This is what happens in general if you survive. You end up in hospital, usually starting with a few days in the ER waiting for a bed, then if your not discharged in after the first 72 hours, go to the psych ward where you sit and do nothing all day, see a doctor for 5 mins maybe 10 if your lucky, a few times a nurse will check in on you.

After a week, they are usually really wanting to discharge by Friday, so you get a surprise discharge with no notice.

You may get a social worker come by to talk to you.

All from experience at a BC hospital.

Generally there is an arts class offered for those who enjoy art, I chose to sit by the window and read a book.

Alan2005

I remember reading (not sure where, so this could be wrong) that women do attempt suicide at similar rates to men, however men tend to do it in ways that get the job done as it were.

BristolUK

Like shopping you mean?

Just to even things up, male checkout operators in supermarkets are slow.

magnumpi

On a lighter note regarding the piss poor economy, I just filled up in London for 87c a litre. :@)

withabix

Isn't that both cause and symptom?

BristolUK

England now prices petrol in cents? Or was it some other London somewhere else?

scrubbedexpat091

Ive read the same over the years from various sources.

magnumpi

It is the London near Detroit

JamesM

Don't worry guys.

Our bankers are still doing well so it's not all doom and gloom:

Canadian Bankers' Bonuses Rise To $12.5 Billion Amid Layoffs

Novocastrian

Oh, that's good.
.
Do you think that Mr. Harper might be prosecuted for destroying the Canadian economy any time soon?

Pulaski

Is any ethnic break-down available? I wonder if the influx of East Asian immigrants into BC has had a measurable impact on the suicide rate as East Asian countries are often reported to have significantly higher suicide rates than western countries.