There are two major problems with treating mental illnesses. It’s often invisible, and it’s nearly impossible to prove that someone suffers from a mental illness.
At least that’s according to Development of Treatment Services (DOTS) president Jean Oliver. And she should know, having been through the horror of suicidal urges herself.
“It’s very difficult to prove that someone is suicidal,” says Oliver, who is also a creative writing and psychology student at Camosun. “When I was in the hospital trying to get help because I knew my suicidal urges were putting me in serious danger, I was sent home because I was told that I didn’t fit the criteria of being clinically suicidal.”
Oliver considers herself lucky that she didn’t become a part of the national statistic of 55 people killing themselves every day. Overcoming her own suicidal struggles, Oliver feels that she must now advocate for those who need resources, in hopes of lowering those numbers.
“Our strategy is to provide seamless mental health care in Canada by providing immediate resources that are useful for those suffering with mental health.”
DOTS advocates believe that there are certain mental illnesses that need to be taken seriously no matter the opinion of the person giving the assessment, and that in urgent matters it is crucial to give that support that the Canadian health care system currently doesn’t offer. (There are also no support groups in Victoria to help people with anxiety or suicidal feelings.)
“There’s lots of information available about suicide prevention but when someone is in a critical moment they require simpler ways of accessing the help,” says Oliver. “DOTS has a panic button on our website for easy access to a crisis hotline.”
A life on the edge
Oliver began having suicidal urges when she started to lose her logic.
She had just overcome a major head injury and was feeling rage as a side effect of the injury, and was also going through a divorce.
“I was abusing my body with alcohol and pills to numb the pain I was going through,” she says. “Eventually, I started thinking illogically and told myself that life wasn’t worth continuing. I felt like I was a burden on others and that life would be better off for them if I wasn’t around.”
The last time Oliver was sent home from the hospital when she was in suicidal panic it was her fourth trip in. She asked the doctor to level with her and the doctor said that if they helped her she would become dependant on them and that it wasn’t helpful for anybody.
“Thankfully, the last time I was sent home from the hospital, I passed out after a couple bottles of wine, before I could take too many pills,” she says. “I had planned to kill myself, because I thought it was all too hard.”
Oliver’s pivotal moment was when she woke up alive and realized that it wasn’t completely her fault that she almost died. She had gone to the hospital for help and was turned away, and believes that if she received the help she needed she may not have attempted to commit suicide.
“None of my friends knew I was suicidal when I was,” she admits. “Suicide is such a taboo thing to talk about; without the medical support I needed, I felt like I was running out of options. When I realized it wasn’t all my fault, I decided that I needed to change my life around and help others who have suicidal urges to do the same.”
Losing loved ones to suicide
Carla Wormald has suffered on the other side of suicide. Wormald, who is on the DOTS board of directors, attended last year’s DOTS rally because she was suffering from the loss of three people that were close to her. They had all committed suicide within the previous four years.
“I was feeling guilt, loss, and helplessness through losing people in my life to suicide,” she says. “I went through counselling but didn’t know how to direct my energy until I went to the rally.”
Getting involved with DOTS helped Wormald self-heal. She learned how to cherish those who have lost their lives to suicide, be a catalyst for positive change regarding mental illness and suicide support, and help people create a better path for themselves.
“Our society needs to advocate awareness, break down the stigmatic barriers, and let people come together to share their experiences with overcoming suicide,” she says.
On a government and community level, Wormald says we need to make more support systems available, advertise the current support systems, and at least provide an emergency psychiatric bed at the hospital for suicidal people waiting for help.
“One of DOTS’ biggest values is to create resources for those who have suicidal feelings or suffer from other mental illnesses,” she says. “I believe that at least two out of the three people I recently lost may still be here today if they were able to speak therapeutically about their suicidal feelings rather than repress their guilt and shame associated with committing suicide.”
Rallying for life
The DOTS rally will have petitions and notification letters for those political members of legislation who have an impact on changing the mental health care system on a municipal, provincial, and federal level. The rally will also feature a human chain, which really stands for something larger.
“The human chain part of the rally is symbolic for people coming together,” says Wormald. “It helps us share stories, network, support each other through our past experiences, and support each other through what we are currently going through.”
DOTS wants to remind those who are feeling suicidal, have felt suicidal, or have lost loved ones through suicide that everyone deserves to be helped through these issues.
For Oliver, it’s all about holding on to a bit of logic.
“In my worst moments there was a voice talking to me constantly while I was awake and giving me nightmares in my sleep,” she says. “Try to keep positive, eliminate the stressors in your life, think logically, and speak with someone who can help you realize what is logical.”
DOTS Rally
Saturday September 8
10 am to 1 pm
Legislature lawn