Fort Erie’s only mental health event takes aim at suicide stigma

It’s Fort Erie’s only annual mental health event and for Russ Young, the hope is to go beyond raising awareness of suicide and instead “get people talking.”

We Gotta Talk put mental health and addiction agencies in one room at the Leisureplex banquet hall so residents could ask questions face to face and find out where to go for help.

Young organized this year’s event with support from Strong Fort Erie Neighbourhoods, a volunteer group that serves free community meals, and other local groups.

We Gotta Talk has three aims, Young said: get residents talking openly about suicide and overdose, connect them with help and get local agencies working together.

Many volunteers at We Gotta Talk carry mental health struggles of their own, Young said, and helping other people is one way they work through their own struggles.

“Some of the people you might have thought would have been a weak speaker were very powerful,” he said.

Niagara Region Public Health says one person in Niagara dies by suicide every eight days. The Niagara Suicide Prevention Coalition, which includes the public health department, names public awareness and access to services among its six priorities for preventing suicide in the region.

Strong Fort Erie Neighbourhoods board president Theresa Murphy said her highlight of the day was hearing residents describe their own mental health struggles on the same stage as Tony Volk, a Brock University developmental psychologist who studies bullying.

“When you bring all these people together in one room, the heartbeat starts going,” she said.

For Shannon Buchanan, talking with people makes a huge difference when she struggles with her mental health, and it’s why she comes to events like We Gotta Talk. She owns a business called The Crystal Queer and ran a vendor table at the event.

She said what matters most for people who struggle is “reinforcing the idea that you are not a burden.”

“Hearing all those people speak today just shows how much it really does matter to wake up and live another day,” she said.

Young promised next year’s We Gotta Talk event will be “bigger, better and see different speakers.”

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