OLDS — The Conversation Has To Happen is happening again.
The free conference on suicide and depression, which has been held for years, will be held Feb. 20 at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Supper will be held from 6 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., followed by the program.
Dennis Thompson, chair of the organizing committee, says there will be three speakers.
He says Shirley Thiessen of CornerBend Ministries will be the keynote speaker.
“She's going to talk a lot about how you support people going through that grief process, whether it be something sudden or whether it be something expected,” Thompson said during an interview with the 51黑料.
Terry Hickok of Didsbury who suffered from anxiety and depression for decades, will finish up a recounting he gave last year of his experience.
“He wants to focus more on the recovery versus how he got to being in that kind of state of wanting to end his life,” Thompson said.
Olds resident Cindy Palin will also address the crowd.
“Cindy Palin is going to speak on what's called the Battle of the mind, and how the mind can be, I guess, tricked to a certain extent,” Thompson said.
“I'm not even sure that's the right word, but something like that, the stigma of certain things and how you can kind of get to that state in your in your mind where that's all you think about, and how that can lead into depression, and oftentimes can lead into something else, self-harm of some kind.”
Melony Cormack will provide music.
Thompson came on as chair when Andrea Hawiuk, the original organizer of the event, stepped down.
He says he has an indirect connection to the topic because a good friend of his youngest son committed suicide roughly 10 years ago.
“He was, gosh, I think 19,18, very intelligent, you know, very articulate and personable. He had a great sense of humour, but he just felt worthless, (that) he just didn't have a place anymore,” Thompson said.
That loss took a very heavy emotional toll on Thompson’s son because they were very close friends and the son had thought he’d talked his buddy out of committing suicide.
“I felt that this topic is something that needs to be talked about; it needs to be kind of brought forward,” Thompson said.
“It seems to be one of those things that happens to be like somebody's dirty little secret, and nobody ever needs to know about it.
“That's what we want to do, is kind of give people a message that you know what? Hope is always there. And if you feel like you're losing hope, you need to talk to someone.”
Thompson is putting a board together to ensure The Conversation Has To Happen doesn’t die out.
“We want this thing to continue,” he said. “I personally would like to see it grow into something a little bit more than it is.
“But we want to keep it local. We want to keep it personal, because it's a pretty heavy topic and we don't want to make light of it.
“You know, the more I talk to people, the more I get a sense of how necessary having a place to go is, even just for no other reason than to have a conversation with someone.
“You don't necessarily have to be a social worker or a psychologist or any of that just to visit with people and listen and hear their story and try and do the best you can to help them through it.”
