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Speakers Jacinta Snyder Head of School - Oakville Primary Campus and Grade 1 Teacher Laura Crumb Head of School - Oakville Elementary Campus Patrick Lanigan Assistant Head of School Amy Gill Academic Coordinator Shirley Nickorick REACH Leadership Coordinator Shaila Rao Academic Resource Teacher We hope that you will join us for this informative evening! Please RSVP at rsvp@rotherglen.com We warmly invite you to join us for an information session to learn all about Grade One and our Elementary Campus 5 V F T E B Z / P W F N C F S t Q N 0 B L W J M M F & M F N F O U B S Z $ B N Q V T / F Z B H B X B # M W E what school should be 10% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE! 2311 Royal Windsor Drive, Oakville, Ontario 905.337.1533 - Fax 905.337.1538 CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR REMODELING DECK/ROOM WINNERS. BOTH WINNERS RECEIVED A $500 GIFT CARD Premier Custom Design Inc. Richard Borovick presented a gift card from Rick McDonald and Pat Templeton MTRO Contractors Ltd. Michael Trevellin presented a gift card from Store manager Rick McDonald and Jamie Wilson w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, N ov em be r 1 0, 2 01 0 4 Christina Commisso METROLAND MEDIA WEST GROUP Three days a week Will Waldron makes it out to school. The other two days he stays home those are his bad days. Dealing with depression, atten- tion deficit hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality disorder and anxiety sometimes gets the best of the 16-year-old Burlingtonian. Twice, the teen has attempted suicide. Looking back to those hopeless nights two years ago, he says one thing would have made his life easi- er if his parents had the knowl- edge back then, that they have today. That was the aim of the Halton Suicide Prevention Coalitions annu- al general meeting at the Halton Regional Centre Thursday. With a focus on preventing youth suicide, health care professionals from across the region gathered to hear Waldrons and Blake Blisss experi- ence dealing with suicidal thoughts at a young age. I do not suffer from depression anymore because I do not search for happiness, said Bliss, whos in his early twenties. I dont think I can find happiness on this earth. He said dealing with excessive bullying since he was a child pushed him into a state of extreme depres- sion. He remembers first feeling depressed when he was in Grade 4. Loneliness kills you faster than anything in the world, he told the audience. Bliss urged all those in atten- dance to work together, so people dont get bullied and find some peace. And hopefully we can find a way to bring compassion back to this world. Both Waldron and Bliss shared their thoughts on preventing suicide among youths. Its impossible to have too much support, said Waldron. Sometimes support needs to be tough love, but there could never be too much of it. On the night he decided, on a whim, to take 30 sleeping pills before bed, Waldron said he was torn between the two options he had before him. I could take the chance that I could go to sleep and never wake up again or I can go talk to my parents, he recalled. I just kept thinking, how mad are they going to be at me? Ten minutes passed before he woke up his mom. He said the stigma surrounding depression makes it hard for youths to come forward about what theyre feeling. When we see a cancer patient, we swarm them with love, compas- sion and support. But these thoughts of suicide and depression, they are so unknown people are afraid to say the wrong thing. At the same time theyre afraid theyre not saying anything. Its a vicious circle of people not knowing what to do. He stressed the need for a more open dialogue about depression and suicidal thoughts. Bliss said hes frustrated with the reliance of prescription drugs when it comes to treating depression. We are becoming desensitized to our own problemsour mechanism now is pills, pills pills. His advice to those dealing with mental illness is to find a therapist they can develop a personal rela- tionship with. Keep searching for someone who is best suited for you. There are a lot of compassionate people out there. Dr. Alan Brown, head of the department of psychiatry, Halton Heathcare Services, stressed how important hope is when dealing with adolescent depression. Its troubling when I hear a young person say, I dont think things are going to get better for me, or I stopped thinking about the future. Hope is important. Brown, the keynote speaker of the morning event, revealed shock- ing statistics about youth suicide. According to Brown, 20 per cent of adolescents will consider suicide in the course of a year and some- where between five and 10 per cent will attempt suicide, which is the third leading cause of death of 10 to 19-year-olds. He said rates of suicide differ depending on gender, culture and ethnicity. In Western countries males between the ages of 15 to 19 are five times more likely to commit suicide, however in Asian countries the prevalence rate is higher among females. Also, aboriginals are six times more likely to commit suicide than non-aboriginals. Risk of suicide tends to increase in teens with a family history of sui- cide behaviour, teens with divorced parents, homosexual youth and those who abuse drugs and alcohol, to name a few. Throughout the meeting, all speakers stressed the need for more communication surrounding depression and suicidal thoughts, as Halton Regional Police receive, on average, one call a day related to sui- cide. Adolescent suicide, I cant think of a more tragic outcome, said Brown. For more information, visit www.suicidepreventionhalton.ca. Loneliness kills you faster than anything in the world Young people speak out about depression and attempted suicide Dr. Alan Brown