Mélanie Gélinas’ brother killed himself while hospitalized in psychiatry in 2018. She is crying out for better inclusion of families in the treatment of suicidal people, in the wake of her visit this week to the public hearings by the coroner on the subject of suicide.
“Suicidal people no longer love each other, but there are people who still love them, and we have to put them in contact with them,” insists Mélanie Gélinas, in an interview with the To have to. The 46-year-old woman was able to participate in the recommendations and representations portion of the public inquiry into the suicide on Tuesday, although the factual component – which ended last October – did not relate to the death of her brother. We must include “the big sisters” in the treatment of suicidal people, despite the confidentiality issues that arise when a patient refuses to be contacted with his family, she believes.
“I would have liked to be part of the solution, because I had things to say,” argues Mélanie Gélinas. But that was not the case. His brother, Jean-Sébastien Gélinas, committed suicide in July 2018 in his room at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal. In the six months before his death, the 40-year-old had been hospitalized five times, the last time for a suicide attempt.
On Tuesday, bereaved family members spoke to Coroner Ms.e Julie-Kim Godin to propose possible solutions to avoid other tragedies. The public inquiry into the theme of suicide should continue until June 10, at the Trois-Rivières courthouse.
According to Mme Gélinas, psychiatric hospitals must also treat suicidal patients with dignity, by taking an interest in their life “before their crisis”. Her brother, who had “a thousand projects”, loved photography and dogs, she says. “But it’s as if everything he was as a sensitive individual, we didn’t take it into account in the context of his treatment,” she laments.
Don’t “repeat history”
Mme Gélinas also wants psychiatric hospitals to “read better” patients’ previous medical records, in order to identify “recurrences and use them”. When her brother was first hospitalized at 19, he was anxious about studying and was afraid of failure, she says. In 2017, a few months before his death, Jean-Sébastien Gélinas had failed the examination of the Order of Nurses of Quebec, she raises.
Taking family history into account is also essential, continues Ms.me Gelinas. “The history of the patient and their family can help understand a disorder and save lives,” she points out.
Bereaved families should also be able to validate and correct the information in the coroner’s report if necessary, according to Mélanie Gélinas. This would allow loved ones to grieve “with the conviction that history will not repeat itself endlessly,” argued Ms.me Gelinas.
An inclusion to make
There is still a lot of work to do to better involve families in suicide prevention in Quebec, according to Jessica Rassy, nurse and associate professor at the School of Nursing at the University of Sherbrooke. We must make sure to include loved ones in the care of suicidal people, “regardless of the environment and the context”, she underlines in an interview.
Confidentiality challenges should not impede efforts to include families in the care of suicidal people, argues Ms.me Rassy. “On the contrary, we must remember that family and loved ones contribute significantly to the safety net that keeps these people alive,” she continues. Hence the importance of offering them more help and support. »
Regarding the possibility of relaxing the confidentiality rules to better prevent suicide, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, said he wanted to wait for the coroner’s conclusions before deciding.
The public inquiry into the theme of suicide is currently in its final stretch. In September 2019, the inquest was ordered by the Chief Coroner of Quebec, Ms.e Pascale Descary, following the deaths of Mikhaël Ryan, Joceline Lamothe, Suzie Aubé, Jean-François Lussier, Marc Boudreau and Dave Murray.
With Isabelle Porter and The Canadian Press