Alissa Reimer realized the magnitude of Red Deer’s mental health problems when she discovered four students at one local elementary school had lost parents to suicide.
A poignant artwork done by one of these kids was displayed as part of Reimer’s project board, in a social work students’ exhibition Friday at Red Deer College.
It shows a stick drawing of a father up in “heven,” a little girl down on earth, and a line connecting their hearts.
“Kids want to talk about their parent’s deaths by suicide but other people are uncomfortable,” said Reimer, who learned this silence is detrimental to children’s emotional development.
Young people who can’t properly talk things out and go through a normal grieving process often develop mental health problems when they are older, said Reimer. She aimed to draw attention, through her project, to the lack of support programs for children whose parents died through suicide.
RDC instructor Darnel Forro is teaching his Social Work students to be “leaders in raising awareness.” By spotlighting people and issues that are “marginalized and silenced by our society,” they can help bring about positive change, said Forro.
“This is an opportunity for them to engage with the public and start a dialogue.”
The Social Work projects were on an array of issues – from problems encountered by seniors to substance abuse and poverty. But mental health was a very popular topic.
Student Shentel Kerr, who works at the Centennial Hospital in Ponoka, spoke about the importance of breaking down stigmas – starting with language: “A lot of people still refer to (the Ponoka mental health hospital) as a ‘loony bin.’ They think it has people in straitjackets in padded cells, when it’s not that way at all … our patients go out on day passes and mingle with the community,” said Kerr.
Kristina Lecomte had her 12-year-old son present to speak about how nature and meditation help him cope with attention deficit disorder.
Lecomte said she really limits his exposure to technology – and Theoron said he doesn’t miss it: “I like building things in the snow.”
Brittany Wyatt drew insights from her father, a former Canadian Forces soldier, when she researched soldiers and mental health.
“They have one social worker for every 200 soldiers in the military” – which isn’t nearly enough, said Wyatt, who learned many soldiers don’t seek help because they worry others will think less of them.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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