Too early to link suicide numbers to Alberta's bad economy, expert says
More research would be needed to establish a definite link between increased suicides and job losses
It's too early to say whether a startling increase in the number of suicides in Alberta is directly related to job losses and a downturn in the economy, says an executive director with the Canadian Mental Health Association.
The most recent data shows 327 suicides were reported in Alberta during the first half of 2015, up 30 per cent from the same period the year before.
"Typically it takes a couple of years in a recession for those numbers to go up," said Dave Grauwiler, who is with the mental health association's Alberta division.
"That's what research shows us. So while we can assume that the economic downturn has had an impact on these numbers, we can't say that research really backs that up."
Alberta typically has a higher suicide rate than other provinces, Grauwiler said.
The province's unemployment rate rose from 4.7 per cent to 5.7 per cent during the first six months of 2015.
Mara Grunau, who heads the Centre for Suicide Prevention in Calgary, called the increase in suicide numbers staggering.
"It's far more, far exceeds anything we would ever have expected, and we would never have expected to see this much this soon," she said on Monday.
While Grauwiler said the numbers don't directly show a link between suicides and the economy, "we are concerned" about the increase.
People who kill themselves typically see suicide as their only option, as the only way to overcome the pain they feel.
"I think that stigma is still an issue around all mental illness," he said.
"However, we do see some pretty encouraging signs that the conversation is changing, that people are more willing to talk about their own experience of mental illness, that there are more opportunities for people to get help in our communities than there ever has been."