By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Sherbrooke-based suicide prevention organization JEVI is inviting anyone who would like to honour a loved one lost to suicide, learn more about how to help someone struggling with suicidal thoughts or talk about their own mental health to a candlelight walk in the woods to mark World Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. in Jacques-Cartier park and include a walk along Lac des Nations.

There will be information kiosks on site where JEVI outreach workers will discuss myths and realities around suicide, and participants will light candles at 8 p.m. to honour those who have taken their own lives and show solidarity with the bereaved. Outreach workers will be on site to speak with those who need immediate support. The walk around the lake will take place rain or shine, and move at a leisurely pace to accommodate those with mobility issues.

The march has been an annual tradition since 2019, with a brief interruption during the pandemic. Sylvie Potvin is an outreach worker, discussion facilitator and trainer at JEVI. She says the annual evening nature walk creates “a peaceful climate where it’s easy to have conversations – and that’s what we want. We want people to feel less alone, and feel able to have an open dialogue on hard subjects. If we were in the city, with the traffic, we couldn’t hear each other.” It also allows people who might not have thought of calling the organization’s helpline or using its support services to learn about help that’s available. “Walkers, rollerbladers, dog walkers will come toward us and ask, ‘Why is there a march?’ and learn about our services that way.”

Potvin has been working in suicide prevention for more than 20 years and seen perceptions of suicide evolve, but says there are still many myths that persist. “One myth that keeps coming back is that when people threaten suicide, they are being manipulative – for example, if someone tells their partner, ‘If you leave me, I’ll kill myself.’ I understand that [the person’s partner] might feel trapped if that happens, but that is a sign of real distress, and it needs to be taken seriously, because you don’t know how distressed they really are.”

Sept. 10 was established as World Suicide Prevention Day in 2003, and annual events are regularly held around the province. The Centre de prévention de suicide de Haute-Yamaska– Brome-Missisquoi (CPSHYBM) is planning a suicide prevention event in Cowansville; CPSHYBM executive director Anne Jutras said more details on that event would be forthcoming later in August.

Both the CPSHYBM and JEVI have bilingual crisis counsellors available. If you or someone you know is in need of support, get in touch with the organizations directly via their respective websites, or call the provincewide suicide prevention crisis line at 988 or 1-866-APPELLE.