Aug 05, 2008 - 04:41 PM

By Moya Dillon

OSHAWA -- The fifth annual World Suicide Prevention Day, set for Sept. 10, brings hope for local services such as Distress Centre Durham that suicide awareness will continue to grow.

"The issue with suicide is that it is genderless, ageless, cultureless, anybody is vulnerable," said Jennifer Tedford, director of community resources with Distress Centre Durham. "One thing we encounter a lot is this stigma and a veil of myth surrounding suicide." The centre works to dispel these myths through awareness programs that include a yearly suicide conference, suicide survivors support groups and school presentations.

"The biggest myth we hear is that talking about suicide will put that idea in someone's head," said Victoria Kehoe, executive director of the distress centre. Every presentation the distress centre holds includes a special section devoted to educating the public about common myths.

The centre, which began strictly as a 24-hour telephone helpline in 1970, expanded in 2003 to include outreach programs such as awareness presentations and a public resource centre. In the four years they've offered expanded services, Ms. Kehoe says they have noticed an increase in public awareness about suicide issues.

"We've had a dramatic increase in the number of calls we receive," Ms. Kehoe said, referring to last years's 40 per cent increase in helpline calls. "With our new services we're trying to focus on more of a holistic approach to dealing with suicide prevention and the public seems to be picking up on that."

One of those initiatives is a call-out program, where distress centre volunteers maintain contact with people who have sought help in the past. Other programs being looked at include stronger teen suicide prevention, including a teen-specific support group and helpline.

All of the centre's support groups are run by suicide survivors, who are better able to identify with the unique grief process survivors share. Many suicide survivors may have found the body of a loved one or seen the scene and often suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

"Grief from a traumatic death is very different than other types of grief; survivors of suicide face a lot of judgement," said Christine Cieslar, a suicide survivor group co-ordinator. "There's a stigma out there that if your child dies from suicide, what kind of parent are you? I always tell people suicide is never about the person, it's about the affliction."

To mark world suicide prevention day, which is co-sponsored by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the distress centre is holding its fourth annual Walk for Suicide Awareness Sept. 13.

The walk is one of the centre's main fundraising and awareness events. Ms. Kehoe said she hopes this year's walk will be "bigger and better" than any other and is especially excited for the balloon release after the walk, where participants write messages on helium balloons and release them into the sky in memory of loved ones they've lost to suicide.

The Walk for Suicide Awareness will be held at Heydenshore Park in Whitby. Check-in begins at 10 a.m. with the walk at 10:30. All participants must raise a minimum of $20 in pledges. To register for the walk, or for more information, visit Distress Centre Durham online at www.distresscentredurham.com