Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Kootenays will commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) on September 10 by hosting an evening of live streamed music as part of the Mysterious Barricades cross-Canada tour.

The event will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the new CMHA Kootenays Connor Stewart Training Centre located at 1000 21st Avenue North – behind the old Canadian Tire location. The event will also include refreshments, snacks, information booth highlighting local programs and services, a candlelight vigil, education and awareness as well as WSPD ribbons.

CMHA Kootenays joins people with lived experience of a mental health issue, their families, policy makers, advocates, researchers and others who come together on this day to raise awareness and share strategies to prevent the tragedy of suicide.

More than 800,000 people worldwide – including about 4,000 Canadians – die by suicide every year.

World Suicide Prevention Day is presented annually by the International Association for Suicide Prevention to spread awareness and break the silence about this issue. This year’s theme, ‘Connect, Communicate, Care’ captures the heart of suicide prevention.

CMHA Kootenays is proud to be partnering with the Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention (CASP) in supporting Mysterious Barricades’ cross-country concert series for this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day.

Founded by Mezza Soprano, Elizabeth Turnbull, whose husband of 27 years died by suicide, this concert series is being held to raise awareness of suicide, suicide prevention and to support those at risk of and impacted by suicide.

The series is inspired by French baroque composer François Couperin’s 1717 Les Barricades Mystérieuses (The Mysterious Barricades). With this concert project organizers hope to raise the level of discussion and awareness surrounding the mysterious barricades between mental illness and health, between the darkness of depression and the light of hope, between life and death.

From sunrise in St John’s, NL to sunset in Victoria, 13 free concerts will flow westward throughout the day and feature some of Canada’s finest professionally trained artists and performers. CMHA Kootenays will be live streaming the concerts at their September 10 event.

CMHA branches across the province, including this one, work daily to share strategies to prevent the tragedy of suicide. CMHA Kootenays provides suicide awareness training such as safeTALK and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), Mental Health First Aid, as well CMHA Kootenays offers crisis intervention and prevention services to the local community, such as the East Kootenay Crisis Line.

Though not all suicides can be prevented, some strategies can help reduce the risk, such as:

Seeking treatment, care and support for mental health concerns — and building a good relationship with a doctor or other health professionals;

Staying connected with a care team or community-based program to help manage stress and monitor for thoughts of suicide;

Building social support networks, such as family, friends, a peer support or support group, or connections with a cultural or faith community;

Learning good coping skills to deal with problems, and trusting in coping abilities;

Universal prevention strategies recommended by the World Health Organization also include increasing access to health care and responsible media reporting.

For more information or to learn more about the suicide prevention or positive mental health, contact CMHA Kootenays at 250-426-5222.

CMHA Kootenays is hosting a Community Gatekeeper safeTALK half-day suicide alert skills training workshop for non-profit organizations on September 8, at its CMHA Kootenays Connor Stewart Training Centre (1000 21st Avenue North) and will also be hosting an ASIST, two-day intervention training session on September 15 and 16, also at its new training centre. To learn more or to register or to book a workshop for your community group or organization, please contact Patricia Whalen at 250-426-5222 ext.3124 or at [email protected].

CMHA is Canada’s most established mental health charity and the nation-wide leader and champion for mental health. CMHA helps people access the resources they need to maintain and improve mental health, build resilience, and support recovery from mental illness. Each year in B.C. alone, CMHA serves more than 100,000 people all across the province. For mental health and addiction information and resources visit www.cmha.ca.

Canadian Mental Health Association

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