An apparent suicide attempt that was streamed online by a university student in Guelph, Ont., is shining a light on mental health issues on post-secondary campuses across the country.
Rory Butler, founder of the suicide awareness organization Your Life Counts, told CTV's Canada AM that while the details of the University of Guelph case are "bizarre," the case itself is not unusual.
"This is happening around the year on our campuses and universities," he said, noting that every year close to 4,000 Canadians take their own lives.
"It's a problem through the age ranges, but particularly in the formative times, for the young person who is away from home, living away from home … and under all sorts of pressure."
A 20-year-old Guelph University student was taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries Saturday evening, after a fire forced an evacuation of a student residence. The student who was taken to hospital is believed to be the person who set the fire.
He live-streamed the apparent suicide attempt on a video-sharing website.
In the video, a male student is seen moving around a dorm room. After about eight minutes, flames are seen spreading through the corner of a small room. The video runs for about 20 minutes until rescue workers arrive at the scene.
In an online message, Guelph University President Alastair Summerlee asked all students and staff to avoid watching the video.
The university's vice-president of student affairs, Brenda Whiteside, said that when incidents like this happen it's time to take pause and look back over the circumstances.
"Were there things that we missed? Were there things we can do differently?" she told CTV Kitchener.
Butler said family and friends can recognize many of the signs and symptoms of suicide through listening and being "tuned in."
He said if you believe a friend or family member may be suicidal, it's important to take action and seek help for that person.
"People are concerned about losing their friendship … well you know what, it's better to lose the friendship than lose a friend," he said, adding that typically the friendship is restored.
Butler said he knows this from personal experience, as he once considered taking his own life.
"I'd gone through a lot of crisis, a lot of bereavement all at the same time," he said. "Quite frankly, I looked at my life and thought my family would be better off without me."
Butler said his wife clued in and eventually intervened to stop him from acting.
He said much like a horse with blinders on, a suicidal person can often only see some hope when someone comes and "takes the blinders off."
"The suicidal person will reach the stage where they just cannot see anything other than the little dot in front of them," he said.
Your Life Counts lists a number of signs to look out for on its website, including symptoms from the American Association of Suicidology.
Some of the signs include suicidal ideation, substance abuse, purposelessness, mood changes, withdrawal and an absence of hope, the website says.
The website also offers an online "lifeline" for those in need of help or advice, as well as links and contact numbers for distress centres across Canada.
