Access to psychotherapy to prevent suicidal ideation

No one’s first choice is suicide. We are not born to want to die. We do not comfort ourselves in suicidal ideation. We don’t create it to get attention either. Whether silent or spoken out loud, the thought of wanting to die conveys suffering that must be taken seriously.

Depression colors the different aspects of our existence, like glasses that distort reality. “I’ll never make it…nothing will change…what good is hope when it doesn’t even deign to visit me…anyway, it’s not worth it…”

Then, when these thoughts persist, they become ruminations. Phrases that resonate constantly and occupy every corner of our thoughts. These sentences sound like: “I’m worthless… the world would be better off without me… I’m guilty of everything that happens to me… I can no longer come to terms with what is happening around me and within me. Physical sensations can add to this picture like a lump in the belly as well as difficult to tolerate emotions like shame.

If we don’t receive adequate help before we are no longer able to function, if we don’t know where and how to receive psychotherapeutic support, ruminations will sneakily turn into suicidal ideation. A cycle of uncontrollable and pervasive thoughts, whether experienced silently or out loud.

We don’t want death. We want to leave because psychic suffering follows us everywhere, even in our sleep, even in our successes, even in our moments which, in normal times, should bring us joy.

Suicidal ideation nips joy in the bud, takes away all meaning from our plans. In fact, it even prevents us from having any. It’s not that we want to make those who love us suffer, it’s that we want to stop suffering and that we think that by staying alive, we make them suffer. How can we not let depression drag us to this point of no return? Getting psychotherapy at the first warning signs of depression can make a big difference. Before thoughts reach the stage of rumination or even psychosis, they are much easier to disentangle.

However, in current Quebec society, psychologists are a luxury, among other things because of their massive departure to the private sector, which leads to waiting times of 6 to 24 months in the public network. The working conditions offered to them by the health network in no way reflect the quality and the need for the care they provide. Result: 40.5% of psychologists working in the health network leave during their first five years of practice.

Due, among other things, to the shortage of psychologists in the public network, the Quebec population is confronted with the phenomenon of revolving doors, which is problematic in several respects.

Being tossed to the right and left, from one provider to another, people struggling with mental health problems experience discouragement, uncertainty, helplessness and an interminable wait for treatment that is tailored to their needs. While the therapeutic alliance with an intervener is essential.

Psychological suffering already robs us of all hope. Moreover, the message that we have assimilated for years in Quebec is that if you need professional help, it is better not to dream, because the chances of being able to receive adequate care are slim. This is why, if we want to talk about suicide prevention, we must talk about accessibility to psychologists to identify the causes of suffering and treat them. And to talk about accessibility, we have to talk about the need for the government to recognize psychotherapy as an essential factor of protection and recovery, rather than seeing it as a luxury. Because nothing could be further from the truth.