I am not surprised that new research suggests youth of 12 and 13 years old are most vulnerable to suicidal thoughts. I want all of you to think about your experience in grade 7 and 8. Think about the events that unfolded. The loss of a friend would be the loss of your world.

But could Marilyn Monroe's own writings provide clues about her suicidal intentions? Many of the letters, poems, and personal notes that Monroe wrote in the years leading up to her death were recently collected in a single book, Marilyn Monroe's Fragments. Her writings have only recently become available for serious study by suicide researchers.

Anytime a celebrity or somebody in the spotlight, like Mindy McCready, takes his or her own life we tend to only talk about the issues facing that specific person. Maybe its easier to talk of somebody everybody knows of. I've talked about why I was grateful I'm still living because, as I've learned, I have a lot to live for. I saw that first hand after my two suicide attempts.

On a warm evening last May, officer Pauline Nguyen went into her backyard and shot herself with her police service revolver. The death of this popular 24-year-old police officer stunned people in her hometown of Thunder Bay. There have been other attempted and threatened suicides from overstressed officers. And the pressures are about to get worse. On March 31, the Conservative government will terminate the Police Officer Recruitment Fund (PORF). The loss of this funding will mean lay-offs of 11 more police officers. Such a loss will add pressure to an already overstretched force.

It is the stigma, the shame and prejudice attached to the phrase "mental illness" that keeps people from accessing care. Mental illness is not in the mind; it is in the brain. Changing the name from "mental" to brain illness can be the beginning of a change in attitude towards those of us with these illnesses.

Thousands of calls to Quebec's suicide hotline are never answered and the government says it needs to act quickly to make sure those who need help are...

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. There was a time not too long ago where I wasn't planning on being around for the occasion. I am a suicide survivor. On December 9, 2010, I went to a public washroom, downed a container of pills and counted down what I thought were my final hours. Tomorrow was never supposed to come. Surviving an attempt has its own difficulties. My decision to reveal this was rooted in my frustration at society's stigma towards those with mental illness and the lack of understanding about suicide.

Can a suicide announcement on Facebook inspire similar copycat deaths? As social media becomes more popular, the impact of those announcements will certainly become more widespread.

VANCOUVER - The legal review of Canada's assisted suicide laws came too late for a British Columbia man who suffered from a terminal illness and hoped...