Sadly already this year 6 teens in Red Deer have taken their own lives, thankfully none at my daughters school, so we haven't had to deal with her possible grief. It is so sad to hear of these kids suffering so much that they think life is no longer worth living. DD has said a counselor goes to each class straight after a suicide to talk to the kids, whatever school the suicidee(?) attends.

SO for all the parents out there that are moving for the sake of the kids, doesn't seem to rosy for them here

Is teenage suicide no problem in the UK? I just assumed it was common all over the industrialised world.

There have been three from this village.

That's very sad. Unfortunately there is a phenomena of copycat suicides amongst teens. It happens in big cities, it happens in nice suburbs, it happens in small towns.

Teen suicide is nothing new. Doesn't matter where one lives, the problem comes down to lack of adequate mental health care, and the stigma one gets when they have any sort of mental health issue.

Society as a whole is not kind to those with mental illness, and it take take months and months to get into any sort of mental health help depending on community.

Its been made so damn hard to get mental health help, that sometimes people feel they have no other option.

I have lots of experience as a patient and mental health system, and currently it sucks.

The fact that Psychologists and therapists are not covered my most medical services in Canada leaves only medical doctors to deal with mental health issues, and the unfortunate thing is, not all mental illness can be treated by medication.

Its likely Red Deer being smallish, lacks appropriate mental health care, so when one attempts to seek out help, they might be turned away or faced with a long painful wait.

Wow. Are they connected or something?

This is definitely not a phenomenon confined to Canada. I do believe there was a big news story a few years a ago when a load of welsh kids all killed themselves within a few weeks. And of course I imagine it happens all the time in Russia!

I remember that.

I manage a transitional home for at risk and homeless youth. We have plenty of challenges there as you can imagine. Mental Health can indeed be great if you can access it but it's not readily available.
We have to counsel the youth as best we can. Bit like putting a band aid on a severed limb!!!

It's the age and the environment too, in high school most of the kids haven't matured beyond their years and they're still learning about life and transitioning into adulthood. Acceptance is so important it can become a life or death issue. Everyone needs a place to belong in and a friend. The cliques in school such as student government,(rich kids), theatre or science clubs, athletics, attract some and others group together as drug users, petty criminals, goths, punks, heavy metal fans, or (what I was left with [+ a few crossover interests], armed forces reservists. The division is obvious by the seating arrangements in the lunchroom, or increasingly today who goes for lunch together outside the school. Not every suicidal student is a loner though, and something as traumatic as a break-up in a relationship can be all it takes. A friend's little brother (who was adopted) got in with some baddies when he was 13 or 14, did some b&e's, got caught and hung himself rather than tell his parents he was in trouble. No one in the family was ever the same again. Is counselling available in schools adequate to the need? Getting kids to talk about their problems should get easier if the service is available when and where they need it, and the stigma of needing help should lessen if they learn that everybody needs help early on. It's a terrible loss when an adult commits siucide, but a youth who thinks life isn't worth living leaves a deeper scar.

I know this is nothing new, I know it happens the world over, I know it happens among teens, I wasn't making a point that it just happen in Canada I think I also wanted to say something for those parents that are moving 'for the children' a phrase we hear so often on this site.

The point I was making that in a relatively small town of about 80,000 people, a teenager has committed suicide on average once a week since the beginning of the new year. It's so sad that these teens were struggling so much and so alone.

One of my daughters friends attempted suicide 2 years ago, I had a frightening experience with my own daughter self harming, my husband has been waiting 6 months to see a counselor, yes mental health services are overstretched, in the case of my daughter, it only took a couple of weeks to get an appointment and in another, separate case, it took a matter of days to get to see a different sort of counselor, so it's not impossible if the situation is deemed dangerous.

I think a big lesson here, is interact with your kids, no one told me my kid was self harming, I found out by interaction.

It's a few, no all. So saying its not rosy for kids in CAnada is a bit of a wide open statement.

As for my kid, now 17 life is good.

http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/e...vey_finds.html

"The overwhelming worry and anxiety that kids as young as 12 are suffering from is not only a “wake-up call” but a call to action, said Canada’s largest school board in releasing the results of a student survey showing troubling numbers of Toronto tweens and teens are stressed out about their futures, lacking confidence and feeling down'


better life for the kids my arse.

Bollox, kids have always been finicky little ****s, I know, I was one. Long Time ago mind.

and there's always denial.

Some one has to keep the kids on their toes I suppose, but, all the teens I know, and I know only appear to be normal confuzzled spotty lads with home work issues. Can't comment on girls tho, maybe it's a female thing?