College

Student
Suicide
Adarsh Kumar
M.Tech CAD/CAM
VIT University

College Student Suicide

Suicide is the second leading cause of
death for college students
The number one cause of suicide for
college student suicides (and all
suicides) is untreated depression

Despair At A Young Age

Unlike most disabling physical diseases,

mental illness begins very early in life. Half
of all lifetime cases begin by age 14; three
quarters have begun by age 24. Thus,
mental disorders are really the chronic
diseases of the young, (National Institute of Mental
Health)

Anxiety disorders often begin in late

childhood
Mood disorders in late adolescence
Substance abuse in the early 20s
Many young people who come to college
have not yet been diagnosed with
Depression.

Despair At A Young Age

In general, non-college young adults
complete suicide at about twice the
rate as college students
Foreign students may have a higher
risk for suicide
Suicide is not more frequent in any of
the four years of college, but it does
occur more often in students who take
more than four years to earn their
degrees

High Levels Of Stress

Going to college can be a difficult transition
period in which students may experience
high levels of stress, which can lead to
Clinical Depression
Many college students also use higher
levels of alcohol and drugs than at earlier
times in their lives, increasing the risk of
suicidal ideation
A hallmark of diagnosis for clinical
depression is the presence of suicidal
thinking
Yet our lack of knowledge about this illness
means that we dont seek help, and our
friends and family dont push us to get help

Awareness
Teachers, coaches, and residence hall
counselors should focus not only on
disruptive students, but also on those who
are quietly withdrawn or whose dormitory
discussions or classroom essays disclose
hopelessness and suicidal thinking
Training in awareness about depression
and suicidal thinking is important for all staff
Policies should be in place to discover
students with suicidal ideation and help
them to recover

How common is suicide among

teenagers and young adults?

Suicide is the 3rd largest killer of young people between th

ages of10 and 25, and the 2nd largest killer of young adul
Suicidal ideation is admitted by about 25% of adolescents
some time during high school
Suicide attempts are more frequent among the young tha
the old, although completions are less likely
About 4,000 young people die from suicide every year in t
US
Teen suicide tripled between 1950 and 1980, but has drop
somewhat in the past 25 years

Is Suicide Really a
Problem?

87 people complete suicide every day

32,466 people in 2005 in the US
Over 1,000,000 suicides worldwide

(reported)
This data refers to completed suicides tha
are documented by medical examiners i
is estimated that 2-3 times as many
actually complete suicide

(Surgeon Generals Report on Suicide, 199

Gatekeeper Training- Dr. Ellen
Anderson

What Factors Put

Someone At Risk For Suicide?
A significant loss by death, separation,
divorce, moving, or breaking up with a
boyfriend or girlfriend can be a trigger
The 2nd biggest risk factor - having an
alcohol or drug problem

Many with alcohol and drug problems are

clinically depressed, and are self-medicating
for their pain
(Surgeon Generals call to Action, 1999)
Gatekeeper Training- Dr. Ellen
Anderson

20 years of brain research teaches

that these symptoms are the
behavioral result of
Changes in the physical structure
of the brain
Damage to brain cells in the
hippocampus, amygdala and
limbic system
Depressed people suffer from a
physical illness what we might
consider faulty wiring

Gatekeeper Training- Dr. Ellen

Anderson

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