P.E.I. cuts suicide help line hoursLast Updated Tue, 24 May 2005 12:39:53 EDT
CBC News
CHARLOTTETOWN - The government of Prince Edward Island is shutting down a 24-hour suicide prevention help line and replacing it with one that runs from 9-5.
The province had been paying $30,000 to a company in New Brunswick to monitor the Island Help Line, but now says it can't afford that and it will end the service on June 1.
About 50 of the 1,400 calls received each year come from people considering suicide.
The government will replace it with three numbers people can call between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Joan Wright, executive director of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, said people with mental health problems need help 24 hours a day.
"After hours, in the middle of the night, those are the times when people are facing their depression and their crisis. During the day, there's lots of other supports and lots of other activity.
"The person will not get the kind of help they need. And if they don't get the kind of help they need, that's sometimes the last straw for them."
Wright said if people can't easily find the right person to talk to, they may take their own lives. People trained to staff the lines can help people before they get to the point of considering suicide, she said.
"You know, I can't say that someone who's suicidal will kill themselves because there's no crisis line, because it's a very individual act. But I can say the chances of someone completing the act are higher when they have no place to reach out to call," said Wright.
Wright said $30,000 is a reasonable cost to provide 24-hour coverage for the entire province.
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