Bonny Ball

Meet Bonny Ball. When Bonny's 21 year old son died by suicide in June 1994, she was encouraged to be open about his cause of death. Her family, friends, faith community and workplace wrapped her in a warm blanket of non-judgmental care and compassion. Her hiking group let her talk until she was talked out. Toastmasters gave a safe place to practice speaking about suicide. Singing in her church choir helped the pain come out. Professional therapy helped keep her in balance.  Support, openness, and compassion overcame the negativity of stigma before it could take root. Surrounded and strengthened by this support, Bonny was empowered to use her professional skills as a business analyst to “make a difference.” As a “survivor of suicide”, Bonny began attending the annual conference of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP). With the help of the professionals she met there, she developed the brochure “Living with Someone Who is Suicidal.” Since then Bonny has become active both locally and nationally, helping to “break the silence” by writing, giving media interviews, presenting at conferences and collaborating on an award winning research paper on giftedness and suicide. To empower other survivors into action, she also initiated the Survivor Advocate Listserve to enable professionals and survivors to connect and learn from each other. Thanks to improved public knowledge about mental health and mental illness, and initiatives such as MIAW, Bonny finds that people newly bereaved by suicide are increasingly met with non-judgmental compassion and understanding, and are also stepping forward to work with suicide prevention professionals. Together we ARE making a difference.Recovery is Possible.