College Suicide

Suicide does not generally come without warning. Almost always, persons considering it show symptoms or provide clues to their intent. It is important, however, for crisis workers to know how to read these and be able to distinguish between myth and reality. (Kanel, 2003, p. 76)

"More people in the general population die from suicide than homicide in North America. There are almost 11 suicide deaths each year for every 100,000 people living in the United States, and for every suicide, there are between 8 and 25 attempts" (Brent 4203). Based on this research, the great effect of suicide is displayed. According to dictionary.com, suicide can be defined as "the intentional taking of one's own life." Suicide is a major issue for all people, but it most obviously affects those ranging from ten to twenty-four. People need to understand the tremendous ramifications caused from suicide everyday; when people take their lives, others lose their loved ones. Suicide, one of the leading causes of death of numerous people each day, has reached a crisis point for adolescents and young adults, and it needs to be prevented.

IV. Thesis statement: My discussion today will cover the factors leading college students to suicide.

“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” - Phil Donahue. As a complex, tragic public health issue, suicide occurs in men significantly more often than in women. Suicide is simply defined as the act of intentionally ending one’s own life, however, the factors that play into a person making that decision are anything but simple. The most evident and severe effect of suicide is the loss of a valuable, meaningful human life. According to Harvard School of Public Health (n.d.), suicide affects parents, children, siblings, friends, lovers, and spouses; the loss to society is psychological, spiritual, and financial. People who lose a loved one to suicide often experience devastating effects and deal with a complex grief. These

The current suicide rate among 15- to 24-year olds is quite disturbing. Growing in numbers since 2007, the latest toll taken in 2013 on suicide within college settings is 11.1 deaths per 100,000 people (Scelfo, 2015). According to the article Suicide on Campus and the Pressure of Perfection, Pennsylvania State University had six students commit suicide in a 13-month stretch (Scelfo, 2015). Suicide within college settings are usually linked with severe depression. As mentioned by Kevin Breel in the Confessions of a Depressed Comic Ted Talk, depression is not sadness, real depression is being sad when everything in your life is going right and this, this I can personally relate to.

When you listen to a convicted murderer speak of his drunken, physically abusive father, you don’t blink an eye. You say to yourself, “No wonder he turned out that way. He came from a screwed up household.” It makes perfect sense that children born to violent and cruel parents will feel the impact later in life. That being said, not all parents have to be violent and cruel to do serious damage. Does the term “helicopter parenting” ring a bell? Julie Scelfo of the New York Times references the term in her article, “Suicide on Campus and Pressure of Perfection.” In recent years, “helicopter parenting” has become more and more prevalent in our society. These parents relentlessly hover over their children, micro-managing every choice and decision

The third key idea is the gender gap. The text defines the gender gap of suicide by explaining that even though women have a higher rate of suicide attempts, men have a higher rate of suicidal deaths. This term was well defined in the article and the information given with it was presented substantially. The authors put together convincing statistics, although one source that was associated with multiple statistics was from 1997, which brings to question the validity of those statistics in today’s rapidly- changing society; almost 20 years later.

There is at least 113 suicides each day or 1 every 13 minutes. Suicide among males is the seventh leading cause of death and the fourteenth leading cause in females. Most suicides are with a firearm and are carried out with a “ Saturday night special”. (Dilaura,Cynthia DiLaura) “More than 90 percent of suicide attempts with a gun are fatal. “ (Brady Campaign) There are a number of reasons why suicide occurs. Stress is the number one cause among our youth, bullies, peer pressure, depression, and abuse. 41,100 people committed suicide in the United States in 2013. Our young teens today does not take time to look deeper into there problem and to seek out a better solution. They are looking for a quick fix but not realizing once the trigger is pulled the result is final with no turning back. Most people who has attempted suicide is more likely to try a second attempt and most have an underlying mental illness. There is many warming that someone may be in a suicide crisis. We most learn how to see things through their eyes. No matter what one is facing in life or the difficult that lie ahead of them Nothing is worth taken your own

Suicide is one of the most leading causes of death in the United States. With this in mind, people that are suicidal, see no point in their existence which later on leads to endangering their life. One of the ways individuals has taken account

Suicide rate is a grow problem in the United States according to the American foundation for suicide prevention more than 41,149 suicides were reported in 2013. The highest rate of suicides is committed by adults between age 45-64 and this is especially true amongst the elderly. Older adults are inflected with a terminal disease, loneness and depression and because of this they are committing suicide at a higher rate. Suicide amongst the men is steadily higher than women, in 2013, 77.9% were male and 22.1% were female. Men success rate for suicide is much higher, because their attempt is more lethal, for example, men are more than likely to shot themselves, whereas women are more likely to use poisons to end their life. Suicide Rate committed race/ethnicity was higher among Whites 14.2%, American Indians and Alaska Natives 11.7%, Asians and Pacific Islanders 5.8%, Blacks 5.4% and Hispanics 5.7%. According to the mean method used to commit suicide is a firearm, then suffocation and poisoning. The main cause of suicide is due to mental health condition and depression is at the foremost leading factor.

Doctor Constance Scharff pens an article discussing suicide on college campuses and the overwhelmed mental health system that is responsible for monitoring the students’ needs (Scharff, 2015). The article mentions that college aged students more frequently receive mental health services as youth to be able to handle the college stressors in the future. This trend the facilities are ill equipped to deal with the more complicated mental health issues like suicide. Unlike other articles reporting on suicide, this article promotes positive ways to deal with the stressors instead of blaming the system for the rise in deaths or problems.

In this article, the author provides a description of various institutional changes, ranging from policy changes to information dissemination, that is designed to prevent suicide on college campuses in the United States. The purpose of this article is not to offer an extensive review of campus-wide suicide prevention measures. Rather it is to outline recent information on campus suicides in the United States and to highlight reports from professional and mainstream sources, including monthly publications and websites, concerning institutional changes arising from and designed to decrease campus

Another important aspect to look into is the different reasons why men and women commit suicide. For women, it is often thought that the main reason for female suicide is from depression over relational failure or problems with relationships (Kalish et al 2010). For men, suicidal behaviors are believed to be stemmed from achievement failure or identity threats that can come from a failure of living up to the hegemonic masculine identity (Kalish et al 2010). When looking at the idea that the main cause for suicidal behaviors in men is the mindset that they failed to live up to the masculine identity. In the distorted lens of a man that is contemplating suicide, it could seem that the only way for this man to attain the identity of being ‘masculine’

While suicide is highest among males, suicide attempts are higher among females and youth suicide among males are highest in rural / remote areas. 1 This essay will examine some of the issues of youth suicide. The focus will be to view the underlying factors and the strategies employed to intervene and prevent a potential

It can be prevented. How many times through the years have we heard this said about suicide? It seems that every time there is a suicide we get a lesson on how suicide is preventable. If suicide is so preventable than why is the suicide rate increasing among college students? According to the SPP (Suicide Prevention Program) for college students, every year in the United States, approximately 1,100 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 commit suicide, and nearly 24,000 attempt it.” Suicide among college students is a persistent problem, especially among college freshman. The fact that suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students is mind blowing. Webster's dictionary defines suicide as “the act or an instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally.” Why do people, like college students who seemingly have their entire future ahead of them, simply give up and turn away from life?” We may never find the answer to this question but we can learn the warning signs of suicide and be better prepared to handle and thus prevent suicide attempts.