Suicide Prevention

Every life is precious and has a
purpose in our society

 

Our community takes suicide seriously. Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services is committed to preventing suicide in Kahnawake.

For the first time ever, there has been a community effort to address suicide in Kahnawake. From Shakotiia’takehnhas we have the departments of Communications, Prevention & Support Services, and Organizational Development Services. Within Kahnawake, our partners are the Kahnawake Peace Keepers, Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, K103 Radio Station, Millennium Productions, Loud Spirit Productions and Kwatokent TV. These key community organizations & media companies have partnered to help prevent suicide in Kahnawake.

This website has many tools that can help you help others. You will learn that you can help to prevent suicide. By working together, watching out for the signs of a person at risk, by listening and by getting involved we can save lives.

Let us honour and preserve the unique gifts that the Creator has given to each of us, life is precious and it’s our collective responsibility to protect it…

About Suicide

Suicide has been stigmatized in our community for a very long time, meaning it has held a mark of disgrace and shame. By de-stigmatizing the word “Suicide”, we can begin the process to heal from the pain this has caused in our community.

Suicide is a reality, and it is more common than you might think. The possibility that suicide could claim the life of someone you love cannot be ignored. By paying attention to warning signs and talking openly about suicide you may be able to help prevent a death.

Having thoughts of suicide is a normal human reaction to stressful events with feelings of loss. Up to 9% of any population has “Thoughts of suicide”, that alone is about 810 people in Kahnawake.

Talking about suicide helps prevent suicide. So let’s work together to keep it merely a thought by learning more, becoming aware and talking with family, friends and your health care workers about suicide.

What are the Warning Signs of Suicide?

What do suicidal persons feel? People thinking about suicide often feel worthless, alone, unloved, and unlovable. They may believe that they are a burden on their family & friends.

They feel misunderstood and judged by their peers and by society. They are often ultra sensitive to criticism, scared to make mistakes and feel unable to cope. They believe that these feelings will last forever and that nobody can help them.

Warning Signs

Suicidal thoughts or behaviours might seem to appear out of the blue, but in reality, most individuals present warning signs and invitations for you to intervene. The following documents are tools to help you SEE and HEAR signs that could indicate that a youth, adult or elder is considering suicide.

 

The link below has been added as a special request form a Girl Scouts Troop located in Denver, Colorado.

http://www.themedifastplan.com/healthy-mind-and-body-a-resource-guide-to-suicide-prevention/

The link below has been added as another request from the mother of Dakota, a student from the United Atates of America who has a special intrest in prevention suicides in her community.

http://counseling.online.wfu.edu/online-counseling-guide-on-suicide-prevention/

The link below has been added as another request, this time from the mother of Kayla a Chicago student who volunteered and created a suicide awareness campaign for her school. She found this page to be of great help to her and felt compelled to ask that we attach this link, to further support the efforts of helping prevent Suicides.  

https://www.wristband.com/content/Suicide-Awareness-and-Prevention