By Sonia McDiarmid
Vanessa was texting with her best friend. She had the sense that something was up—the vibe of her friend’s texts had changed. Her responses were getting shorter; she wasn’t as chatty as normal, and Vanessa was starting to become worried. She decided to check her social media account and noticed a post by her friend that was out of character and communicated extreme sadness.
Many people are finding themselves in crisis, especially as we continue to live through the global pandemic. As community members, we can all benefit from gaining the tools to recognize signs that someone might be in crisis or thinking of suicide.
The Crisis Centre of BC has partnered with LivingWorks to offer their Start Program. The Start program is designed to help people “recognize when someone is thinking about suicide and connect them to help and support.” This online, go at your own pace course offers tools for suicide prevention in a 60-90 minute format and can be taken by individuals as young as 13. In addition to offering this education, LivingWorks is supporting our local community by donating a portion of their proceeds to the Centre for every class booked through www.crisiscentre.bc.ca.
If you or anyone you know has an interest in learning more about how to recognize the signs of someone considering suicide, as well as how to connect with and support them, please use this link to begin the Start online class.