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<\/a><\/p>\nSchell says that there are a number of signs to look for when you think someone may be feeling suicidal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are kind of three things I am really looking for and paying attention to,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a mixture of feelings. If somebody feels helpless; if they feel hopeless; if they feel worthless. Those are really big red flags to me, if someone makes a statement like that. If they\u2019re showing those things, that\u2019s a big indicator for me to say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’\u201d<\/p>\n
Schell also acknowledges how difficult it can be to reach out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s challenging when you\u2019re in that state to think clearly for yourself, to make those connections,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I do presentations around here at UVic, around suicide awareness, I do them for student leadership groups, like our community and residents but also for our staff and faculty particularly, to really know what to pay attention to. To know how to initially respond effectively about some of the things I have focused on about suicide awareness, to talk about some of the myths about suicide. I\u2019m creating more awareness and community because I am having people engage in conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schell says that we need to break the stigma by having people talk more openly, and also talk about the available resources and support. She says the resources and\u00a0support aren’t always perfect \u201cbut at least there are many different ways and options that keep people trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also up to us as friends, as supporters, our loved ones to keep encouraging to connect until we find what will work for them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Schell says that international students can sometimes be at higher risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome recent research shows that there is a higher risk group, because there [are] less supports here, they have less community here, have left their familiar supports at home,\u201d she says. \u201cThat is why it is so important to emphasize that there is no shame ever in talking about suicide. One important support available is here2talk.ca, as well as there is an Indigenous helpline for young adults and youth, and I know that people who have reached out to those have had positive experiences. You know there is a suicide risk curve, so if we can buy some time, the intense feeling that they’re feeling may dissipate. That is the point where things seem a bit clearer so you see what the next step is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schell says the important thing is to start the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen somebody feels like they don\u2019t want to ruin anyone else\u2019s day by telling them how they feel, that is when our sense of compassion can really come into play,\u201d she says. \u201cIf we can break down those barriers, break down the stigma, we can finally have people say that this is where they\u2019re at, and not feel afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s Talk about Suicide: Raising Awareness and Supporting Students<\/em> is available to read at opentextbc.ca\/suicideawareness<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new tool has been made available for staff and faculty of BC colleges and universities to support students on campus who are dealing with mental-health crises. Let\u2019s Talk about Suicide: Raising Awareness and Supporting Students is a digital resource made available by BCcampus. University of Victoria Student Wellness Centre manager of mental health outreach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webexclusive","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21623"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21646,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21623\/revisions\/21646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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