STUDENT SUICIDES:

The Dark Side of Higher Education

JoyLynn Hailey, Editor

“They bounded me about grades to the point where I can't even study. I don't think that I'll ever make it. My mid-terms last week were a nightmare. I can't shake this terrible depression. I can't see any way out....”

Suicide, the number-two killer of college students, claims the lives of approximately 5000 college-age people each year. That number, experts say, is a minimum estimate since many suicides are reported as accidents.

Over the past thirty years, the incidence of suicide among college-age individuals has risen 284 percent. Today, the suicide rate among college students is twice that of the same-age group not in college. This dramatic increase is explained in numerous ways by experts from different domains. However, the concurrent opinion is that suicide occurs when an individual believes that there is no apparent means for a tolerable existence.

Reasons Complex, Varied

Although there is typically no single reason for a suicide, authorities have compiled several reasons why a college student may attempt it.

First, scholastic anxiety may contribute to a student's dissatisfaction with life. Parental and peer pressure for scholastic achievement may become an unreasonable burden. A student may believe that his or her worth as an individual hinges upon high grades. Since competition for grade and academic achievement is becoming fiercer on today's campuses, the student who is worried or anxious about grades may become extremely distraught and depressed.

Second, students face high unemployment rated. Economic hardship is often a hallmark of suicide.

Similarly, students worry about employment after graduation. When positions are unavailable in a student's area of expertise, the feeling that one's education is useless may make the individual feel unimportant.

Third, a stressful social life can make a college student feel rejected, abandoned, and dissatisfied. Interpersonal relationship difficulties may result in a great loss of self-esteem for the student. Individuals who have problems adjusting to social life in college are frequently considered likely candidates for attempting suicide since they lack companionship and thus may feel as though no one cares about them.

Finally, many scholars blame the increase of suicides in this age group on the general decline of religious values in our society. Religious activities greatly deter suicide attempts since most religions forbid it.

Intentions Usually Signaled

There is an encouraging note in the bleak picture: A high percent of suicidal individuals – 80 percent – indicate their intentions. An actual suicide attempt is the most desperate signal. Another is the verbal threat. Statements such as “You'd be better off without me” and “Life has lost all meaning” fall into this category. Another possible indication is the situational hint, such as a person's poor health, economic distress (which results in doubts about personal competence), breakups of relationships, and family problems. A fourth possible indication is the emotional hint, which involves changes in behavior and levels of energy. Lack of energy and motivation, lassitude, and depression are examples.

College Can Have Role in Detection, Intervention

The suicide of at least 500 higher education students per year is a devastation loss – to family and friends, to the college, and to the community. Since early detection and treatment of depression are the greatest deterrents to suicide, educators and colleges may be in unique positions to help prevent these losses. Studies report that establishing crises intervention centers on campuses is a highly effective step.

Two major components are necessary before these centers can be completely functional. The first is a twenty-four hour telephone answering service. Personnel answering the phone can be professionals, pre-professional, or trained volunteers. A second component is the presence of professional counselors. Students who contemplate or attempt suicide need professional guidance.

Typically, campus crisis centers perform three functions. First, they educate and inform the community about suicide. If other students and professors are taught to recognize symptoms of a suicidal individual, then early detection and intervention may be possible before an individual even attempts suicide. Second, the centers provide counseling for victims who have attempted suicide. Since statistics show that four of five people who commit suicide tried it at least once before, this intervention is of the utmost importance. The third function of a crisis intervention center on a campus is to counsel individuals who were friends, roommates, and relatives of the victims.

The statistics are staggering, sobering, sad. Even for an institution – a college – the loss is a very personal one. The college's role in early detection and intervention for its troubled students may be relatively simple, requiting only minimum facilities and personnel, and institutional awareness and concern.

Academic Reading, 1983