New stats reveal drop in suicides
High Level Bridge barriers, reduction in stigma could be helping: CMHA official
New numbers show suicides, attempted suicides and Mental Health Act complaints in Edmonton have declined, sparing loved ones the immeasurable grief of losing someone to suicide.
Edmonton police were involved in 3,876 Mental Health Act-related cases in 2016, down from 4,173 in 2015 and 4,432 in 2014, the Edmonton Police Service said.
At the same time, Edmonton police were involved in 26 confirmed suicide cases in 2016, down from 32 in 2015 and 46 in 2014.
Across Alberta, 496 people took their own lives in 2016, a nearly 35 per cent decrease from the 668 cases of suicide in 2015, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said.
The number of confirmed suicides in Edmonton in 2016 dropped by more than 30 per cent, with 121 confirmed cases in 2016 compared to 158 in 2015.
While Ione Challborn, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Edmonton region, said Wednesday it is too early to tell exactly what caused the decrease, she said it could be attributed in part to efforts to raise awareness and remove the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
“There is no one person or jurisdiction that can solve this alone; this is a community issue and the community needs to work together,” Challborn said.
One contributing factor, Challborn said, could be $3-million safety barriers installed along the High Level Bridge. The number of suicide attempts on the bridge has been cut in half since the barriers were installed in July 2016.
“I was always confident that this was going to save lives, and I think these statistics bear that out,” Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said Tuesday.
Alberta Health Services emergency medical services personnel responded to five suicide attempts at the High Level Bridge in 2016, compared to 10 in 2015, while Edmonton police responded to 21 mental health complaints on the bridge, down from 41 in 2015.
“The safety barriers were installed to provide a moment of pause or a sober second thought for those who may be suicidal,” said Kris Andreychuk, supervisor of community safety with the City of Edmonton. “It’s still too early to conclusively know what effect the barriers are having, but after following similar projects and research in other cities, we believe the barriers are acting as a deterrent to suicide.”
Dan Klemke called for barriers to be installed after his wife, suffering from a bad reaction to travel medications, jumped from the bridge and died in January 2013.
Klemke said he was confident the barriers would save lives, and said it is gratifying to know his efforts could save another family from a similar tragedy.
“It has been a hot spot for decades, and that has been stopped,” he said, adding that phones that connect directly to the CMHA Distress Line and messages of hope etched into the concrete along the bridge have likely contributed to the success of the project.
If you or someone you know is in distress and needs someone to talk to, specially trained distress line listeners are available around the clock at 780-482-4357.