In late December, a few weeks shy of his 19th birthday, Caelin Porter killed himself in a hotel room. These simple but eloquent words written by Gazette reporter Viola Pruss begin a tragic story about the suicide of a well-liked, capable, young St. Albert man so deeply troubled by ongoing anxiety and depression, he took his own life.
Now as his loving mother, Shelley Porter, tries to pick up the forever shattered pieces of her own life, she has bravely decided to speak out about suicide so that other families may avoid this unspeakable pain in the future. Caelin was smart, she says. He was nice. He was not an angry at the world, but he was undeniably frustrated by the mental illness that robbed so much joy from his life. She talked to him not only about his depression, but also about his recurring suicidal thoughts. He had attempted to kill himself before and though efforts to reach out to him ultimately failed, she believes an honest and open conversation about suicide may have the power to save lives and, in the worst cases like hers, help assuage feelings of guilt that can haunt survivors.
We laud both her courage and thinking. In a province that has consistently led the country in suicide rates, teen suicide in particular, has cast its pall over too many families to ignore. Depression is the leading cause of preventable death among Albertans and for every death, Statistics Canada reports there may be as many as 20 attempts. Males are four times more likely to succeed in their attempts, but women are three to four times more likely to make an attempt. In 2009, when 202 Canadians aged 15 to 19 killed themselves, suicide represented almost one-quarter of all deaths in the age group. Suicide ranked as the ninth leading overall cause of death in Canada that year, but it was second among those aged 15 to 34. Only accidents killed more.
Thomas Holmes, a registered psychologist who does work with the Sturgeon School Division, says there is an unsubstantiated myth that talking about suicide causes people to carry it out. In fact, newspapers have traditionally shied away from the discussion over fears that it can cause copycat behaviour for that very reason. However, Holmes says many people who are considering taking their own lives are glad someone asked them about it.
Thinking of Caelin’s story, it was touching to hear screenwriter Graham Moore bring up the subject of his own teenage suicide attempt as he accepted the Academy Award Sunday for writing the best adapted screenplay. He urged depressed teenagers to realize that life will get better and that they will find success and a place in this world.
“Stay weird,” he said. “Stay different. And then when it’s your turn, and you are the one standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along.”
