[The Star] Queen’s students rally to draw attention to spate of deaths

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/972047–queen-s-students-rally-to-draw-attention-to-spate-of-deaths?bn=1

Reeling in the wake of six student deaths, including three confirmed suicides, in the past year, a group of about 40 students gathered in front of Richardson Hall at Queen’s University Friday afternoon to challenge the school’s response to the tragedies.

Geneviève Rochon-Terry, 20, wrote, “I can’t encourage friends to get professional help when there isn’t enough!”

Friend Rachel Dicks, 20, echoed her sentiment.

“Personally I have struggled with mental health issues for about six years now and when I came to Queen’s I found it really hard to … make an appointment with a crisis counsellor. I got in within 24 hours but it took six weeks after that to get a follow-up appointment and then they cut you off after six appointments because of the volume of people who need it. If someone’s contemplating suicide, you can’t tell them to wait six weeks. It’s not acceptable.”

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