Depression and Suicide

What is depression?

Depression is a mental health disorder that impacts how someone thinks, feels, and acts. It can show up as a persistent sadness, a loss of interest or pleasure, as well as intense fatigue or lack of energy. It can make everyday life difficult and affect daily functioning. 

depression-and-suicide

What can contribute to causing depression? 

Depression is not generally linked to one single cause, but to a combination of factors that vary from person to person. Here are some examples: 

  • Biological: hormonal changes, genetic predisposition, chronic illnesses 
  • Psychological: lack of self esteem, a tendency for harsh self-criticism, trauma, difficulty regulating emotions 
  • Social: major live events (i.e.: grief, moving, divorce, financial problems, job loss, academic failure), isolation and loneliness, instability   

What are some signs associated with depression? 

Depression doesn’t show up in the same ways for everyone. Some people can mostly feel sadness, discouragement, or be withdrawn, whereas others may experience more irritability, anger, agitation, or adopt at-risk behaviours. These differences can be explained by several different factors, such as gender, socialisation, and context. 

 

  • Emotional signs: 

    • Feeling sad, empty, or hopeless 

    • Feeling more irritable than usual 

    • Feeling useless, guilty, or like a burden most of the time 

  • Behavioural signs: 

    • Losing interest or no longer finding pleasure in activities 

    • Feeling agitated, or, on contrary, feeling slowed down 

  • Physical signs: 

    • Noticing a change in appetite or weight 

    • Having difficulty sleeping or sleeping much more than usual 

  • CognItive signs: 

    • Having trouble taking decisions 

    • Difficulty concentrating 

    • Having unfair, unrealistic, and excessively negative thoughts towards one’s situation, self, and future 

    • Having thoughts related to death or suicidal thoughts 

Do you have depression and suicidal thoughts?

Depression can cause significant suffering. In some people, this distress can bring on suicidal thoughts. If that is what you are going through, reach out.

We encourage you to check out the following sections: 

01 Taking stock of your mental health

The first step toward taking back control is identifying what’s causing your suicidal thoughts.

02 Taking care of yourself

There are a number of things you can do to protect yourself and regain your balance when you’re having suicidal thoughts.

03 Talking about it with your loved ones

Asking for help from your family and friends isn’t always easy. There are different ways of going about it.

04 Finding support services

Every day, all sorts of people contact support services to get the help they need.

What to do if you have symptoms of depression

If you have one or more depressive symptoms, first call 811, option 2, (Info-Social) to speak to a responder about what you’re going through and be referred to local resources that can help you as needed. 

To get an evaluation or a follow-up with a healthcare professional, speak to a general practitioner (i.e.: family doctor), a psychologist or contact your local CLSC.

Other resources can also help people experiencing depression. 

Find resources

Tips to help you with depressive symptoms 

What I'm going through...