The Canadian National Task Force on Suicide found that suicide rates in Canada, especially among youth, exceed those in other countries around the world, including the United States. Health care professionals and social service providers identify suicide as one of the most important areas in which they need information. Yet, there has been little change in public policies, and support for research is lacking.
Compiled by Canada's leading experts on suicide, this collection provides long-awaited information that focuses specifically on Canada. It addresses suicide as a multi-dimensional problem with biological, psychological, cultural, sociological, personal, and philosophical aspects. The contributions integrate both critical analysis and personal experience. There are accounts from Inuit elders, from women who have survived the loss of a family member, and from workers at a crisis line. Among the topics covered are the development of suicide prevention; theory and research; First Nations and Inuit peoples; family, community, and government approaches; distress centres; survivors; and the debate over the right to die.
Suicide in Canada does more than simply describe the recent developments in suicidology in Canada - it is a call for action that will save lives. It will be of immediate use to psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, crisis workers, and researchers.
Antoon A. Leenaars practises psychology in Windsor, Ontario, and is affiliated with the University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
Isaac Ssakinofsky is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and head of the Suicide Studies Program at the Clarke Institute for Psychiatry.
Susanne Wenckstern is a psychology consultant for the Board of Education, City of Windsor.
Ronald J. Dyck is Director of the Prevention and Promotion Branch, Alberta Health.
Michael J. Kral is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Windson.
Roger C. Bland is professor and chair of psychiatry at the University of Alberta.
