At a time like this, words just can’t convey the sadness and loss.
But Tim Powers has made an excellent effort:
…On this tough day, after what has no doubt been a rocky road, the Batters’ family has shown tremendous courage in sharing Dave’s battle with the rest of the country. One hopes your guts will continue to advance the war against the Black Dog and lessen his bite.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a statement just released about Dave’s tragic death, said this:
“Dave ultimately lost his struggle with severe depression, but we should use his loss as a reminder that mental health illnesses affect Canadians in every walk of life. Too often Canadians, such as Dave, suffer in silence out of fear of being stigmatized for their illness.”
Good also for the Prime Minister in picking up the baton handed to him by the Batters family and speaking directly to all those Canadians, and their families, who have walked and continue to walk in Dave’s shoes…
Please don’t suffer in silence or out of humiliation. Seek help.
And know that you are not alone in your affliction.
* * * *
Update: More condolences across partisan lines - and in comments.
RIP Dave Batters - Dr. Roy
Suicide – - Preventable Death – James Morton
Dave Batters RIP – Mike McGuire
My condolences to the family. Depression is an illness that is real and is devastating.
Hunter, I agree.
I had a distant relative pass away from suicide. It was the most difficult funeral I ever attended.
I co-sign everything Tim said. The Black Dog is a beast. Crazy, just crazy..
My condolences to family and friends…
All the best in your new life Dave, all the best…
God grant him peace.
My g/son had three school friends commit suicide during his high school years. In one family it was the second time a son had done this. In all cases there were problems, and most of them did it after a breakup with a girlfriend. But that is not the real reason, but no one recognized the problems, or if they did, ignored them. The effect on the living is really unknown, my g/son has a difficult time making long term friends, he is afraid they will they will leave him.
This is a disease that can easily create a domino effect and because of the stigma, those that are also ‘knocked down’ don’t understand or recognise that they should too, seek assistance.
The shame and horrible language, often attached to the mentally ill, is absolutely a feature of their not seeking help.
It needs to stop, immediately!
Mental illness, depression, panic/anxiety disorder etc, is no different than heart disease,kidney disease, cancer or any of them.
My sincere sympathy to the family and I am profoundly touched by the courage they have shown by publicly opening up this tragedy to bring a bright light on this terrible affliction.
Dave Batters, has not died without a significant and life changing purpose. It will matter this time.
God bless Dave, his family and friends.
Mental illness is just as devastating as any serious physical affliction. My sister in law attempted suicide by overdose on more than one occasion and each time was saved in the nick of time. Undeterred, at age 38, she arranged to take her life in circumstances that prevented immediate help reaching her.
There was a time when the mentally ill were told “it’s all in your head” or “snap out of it”. Thankfully, this attitude is changing. We must combat the stigma of mental illness and make our health care system responsive to this affliction. Thanks to the courage of Dave Batters and his family, and to other high profile cases, a public discourse is now taking place.
I offer my deepest condolences to Mr. Batters family and friends.
Wow very sad news. My condolences to his family.
Well, finally a Blogging Tory takes notice. I’ve been checking it out, and nearly all the BT’s are obsessed with partisan rants and chants.
May he rest in peace.
This is a topic which strikes very close to home. I had a classmate in high school take her life and it was unbelievably tragic. Little did I know that I would, not long after, make my own two attempts – at 16 and 18. The first attempt failed because I was a klutz and the second one failed because God intervened and put somebody on my path who figuratively pulled me from the mire. To repay God, I spent the next 30+ years working as a volunteer with an inter-faith group to provide support to adult males who were bent on taking their lives. Two years ago, God moved me from that path and I no longer work in this area – God let me know that it was time for me to live my own life and that I had done my duty.
I experience (I refuse to use the word “suffer”) melancholia which is a form of depression. It was not until a decade ago that I was diagnosed with this condition but once I knew what it was about, I consulted with a Pastor whom I respect and I managed it through my faith in God. I refuse to medicate myself because I’ve seen what those drugs can do and it scares the daylights out of me.
Recently, a health-freak friend put me on to a natural supplement which smooths out the peaks and valleys and it was shocked to learn that it is something that is readily available off the shelf: Omega-3 EPA. This particular form of Omega-3 works wonders for mood disorders and, let me tell you, it sure eases the effort I need to expend in order to move through the valleys.
I can only wish that people who experience melancholia and depression were as fortunate as I am to have had the great guidance and understanding which came my way. It breaks my heart when I hear of somebody who lost his or her life as a result of depression because they did not have the same great fortune as I had in reducing the effect of the mood swings.
It is nearly impossible for a “normal” person to understand the intense darkness of a valley – the effort it takes to just get out of bed and face the world, the effort it takes just to put a little food into oneself…the list is almost endless.
I do not see my condition as an illness nor do I see it as a disability…but that’s my own approach and we all have our own particular approaches.
If you know somebody who experiences depression or melancholia, just be there for the person. Just knowing that somebody is there makes all the difference. Be there in person, by e-mail, or by telephone but…no matter how you do it, make that person know that you are 100% there. Believe me, just knowing that somebody is there can make the difference between life and death. In addition, you could recommend Omega-3 EPA to the person – it really does help.
Louise, very sorry to hear about your sister-in-law.
East, thanks for that personal story. I have had my own battles with ‘the Black Dog’. A good doctor, supportive family and prayer got me through it.
Condolences to the Batters family.
Ah, Joanne. You understand. Personally, I do not like melancholia or depression labeled as an illness – I really don’t. I call it a condition and, as far as I am concerned, I simply have a condition. You are so right about prayer – my faith has pulled me through some really tough scrapes in my life.
The person who got me started on the path to managing my condition was none other than the late father of our Vic Toews. Mr. Toews was the boys’ guidance counsellor at my high school – he was a Pastor as well as being a history teacher and guidance counsellor. Mr. Toews was an incredible man and he honoured God just by breathing, he was that much of a man.
Mr. Toews not only started me on the path to managing melancholia but he also gave me some skills in living with ADHD, dyslexia and diminished motor skills due to infantile spinal meningitis. If not for these challenges which God laid on me, I would not be even one-tenth the man I am today.
It appalls me that our health care system is so prone to handing out pharmaceutical products without any effort to teach coping and managing skills. I think drugs are fine for extreme cases but for the most part, they are a quick and dangerous fix.
I abhor Ritalin – I am living proof that an ADHD child can manage and adapt very well to normal life. I am living proof that Prozac is not the only option. The only drug I take is Celebrex for those times when movement or Curcumin just don’t cut it. Other than that, I am free of pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical industry is huge and the reason for it being so huge is the brainwashing to which we have all been subjected.
Sorry to be so strident but I think that we, as humans, are being abused by the pharmaceutical industry.
“I am living proof that Prozac is not the only option.”
You are, East and you have also clearly stated, how the power of support, encouragement and options can assist in the navigation of these MANY terrible illnesses.
However I think it is important for anyone reading this and suffering their own darkness that not all things work the same for everyone.
With anxiety and panic disorder for example, depression can become the debilitating factor and in order treat the first illness you MUST treat the secondary illness, first. There are MANY medications that are not addictive and a Doctor will supervise the reaction of these usually weekly until you are stabilized and then treat the primary illness. Medication, is not only perfectly acceptable but very necessary.
If an individual has no family Doctor and experiencing ANY mental illness, they may get treatment at a hospital.
The reality is, many folks with mental illness have no support, no Doctor and no idea what is going on. It is the invisible disease that cost society so much both in dollars and lives.
Btw, Happy Birthday, Canada!
“The reality is, many folks with mental illness have no support, no Doctor and no idea what is going on.”
Bec, that is so very true. When I was a volunteer, I was one of a group of men who, in essence, became gap friends. When a solitary person sees a counsellor, he is treated clinically but there is no personal connection – there can’t be, if the counsellor is to do his job. Unfortunately, after the hour or so session, the person leaves and…nothing.
I strongly believe in the power of companionship as an anchor from which a person can climb up the long tunnel to daylight and there are far too many people who are isolated and the isolation only makes the situation worse for the person. I have a heart and I have two arms and I never hesitate to hold or hug anybody who needs it – male or female, it doesn’t matter. I have no qualms or insecurities which would prevent me from giving the love with which God fills my heart. We have become a society of isolation – gone are neighbourhoods where we all knew each other, gone is the companionship among men and among women – our allegedly progressive society has become one of isolation thanks to the “progressive” left.
Medication has its place and I would never push to have it removed from treatment but I believe that medication, except in extreme cases, should be a starting point until the person is fully equipped with coping and managing tools. In my day, the only drugs used for emotional conditions pretty much made zombies of the patients. Prozac and Zoloft, I believe, are good for getting a person stabilized so that he or she can be guided to coping and managing.
Support is key – and I was fortunate to have it available. However, that was back in the old days when we went to church, had guidance counsellors who weren’t obligated to be politically correct, and parents who were very much involved in our lives. I thank God that I lived in an era where we could be told the truth without all the sugar-coating.
After my son Logan died at ten years old I was diagnosed with shell-shock depression. With the proper medication and therapy I was able to climb my way out of the darkness. Mr deepest sympathy goes out to the Chatters family.
Dave Batters’ suicide is very tragic for so many reasons that I do not know where to even start with it. CBC reports that Dave Batters before he entered politics worked as a representative for a pharmaceutical company (merchant of white death) and suffered from addiction to benzodiazepines,(one of the most addictive prescription medications on the market see: http://www.benzo.org.uk/ ).
Benzodiazepines are well known to cause depression, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine
People who have their minds made up that they are going to kill themselves just do it without telling other about their plans.
It is quite obvious that Dave Batters did not want to die as he made a threat that he wants to kill himself and somebody who heard his threat made a 911 call around 3PM. Instead of sending ambulance Regina cops send a SWAT team to negotiate and they eventually found Dave Batters dead five hours after their arrival. If this is what Regina cops do when former MP threatens suicide who knows what they do when ordinary Joe makes such threats??
Instead of sending ambulance Regina cops send a SWAT team to negotiate and they eventually found Dave Batters dead five hours after their arrival.
Karol, I found that strange too. Maybe they were concerned that someone else was with him? I don’t know. It just makes a sad situation seem even worse.
Joanne,
I personally find it as a trend of some sorts. Couple of months ago good friend of mine reported to me an incident that took place in Scarborough, Ontario. Her next door neighbour knocked on her door in distress and asked to use her phone. It turned out that neighbour’s husband ripped phone jack out of the wall and cut his wrists. Friend of mine made 911 call and dispatcher hold her and her neighbour on the phone for a long time asking them all kind of questions. By the time they finished with dispatcher and went to neighbour’s home neighbour’s husband was already unconscious. They tried to stop his bleeding. By the time paramedics arrived poor man was dead. What makes this story so bad is the fact that that this same man made threats that he is going to kill himself three days earlier. His wife called 911, ambulance arrived, paramedics talked to her husband and refused to take him to a hospital despite of her pleas to help her husband. It turned out that that man was seeing a psychiatrist and was on a disability of some sorts.
I do not want to start again with “Zyprexa pump and dump treatment” causing suicides and conspiracy theories but it seems very convenient when people on disability kill themselves reducing burden on medical and social systems in Ontario and elsewhere.
Joanne,
Other issues: Benzodiazepines are know to cause depression, and addiction to Benzodiazepines is very common problem that medical doctors should know how to deal with as they are the ones that create that problem to begin with by writing prescriptions for that very dangerous stuff, see: http://www.benzo.org.uk/
Dave Batters was Conservative MP who year ago took medical leave from Canadian Parliament in order to deal with his mental health issues.
One would expect that medical professionals in Canada would put their best foot forward and offer Dave Batters services or at least consultations with best Canadian psychiatrists in order to make his recovery a medical success story that they could use as a leverage when they make demands on Canadian Parliament for more money to expand psychiatric services in Canada.
I would not be surprised to find out that best shrinks in Canada were in fact consulted last year on how to help Dave Batters beat his addiction and his depression.
Also, I would not be surprised to find out that best advice that the best shrinks in Canada were able to offer was to put Dave Batters on SSRI type of antidepressants.
Results of such stupid move are well described in my anonymous posts on Dr. Roy’s and James Morton’s Blogs.
When we are talking about the blind leading the cripples Dave Batters’ needless death takes the cake as evidence that Psychiatry in Canada and US is indeed “The Industry of Death”.
[...] inasmuch as any of us can be bitten by the Black Dog, I think it behooves all of us to reflect once in a while on how damaging all the partisan sniping [...]