The Causes Of Suicide By Suicide In College Students

Suicide is a severe community health matter which can have lifelong negative consequences on individuals, families, and the society. Reduce suicidal risk factors and increase protective measures are the main objective of suicide prevention. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defined suicide as the “death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior; suicide attempt is “A non-fatal, self-directed, potentially injurious behavior with an intent to die as a result of the behavior; might not result in injury’; and suicidal ideation is “thinking about, considering, or planning suicide” (2015).

For first year students coming straight from high school, college life can either be very exciting or overwhelming depending on how well one prepares for it. Some have the notion that college is fun and is all about partying, while some believe that it is an environment in which they can achieve the ultimate freedom thus escape the stringent rules made by their parents at home. Others look forward to experiencing a different learning environment while being exposed to different cultures and sharing different academic knowledge. Successful assimilation into college life is determined by the student’s capability to transform into the new role of a college student. Numerous students face challenges they have never experienced before which can

The transition from high school to college is a dynamic time in one’s life that parallels the change from childhood to adulthood. Both of these changes are dramatic and, as a result, feelings are difficult to put down into words. A messy combination of emotions fills the heart, surfacing in strange ways. Confident high school seniors go right back to the bottom of the chain when entering college as freshmen. These students start all over, just like entering grade school or high school for the first time. The move up from high school to college signals the switch from dependence to self-sufficiency. From a personal point of view, going through the experience of graduating high school and transferring to a residential college campus at STLCOP, made me realize I was no longer a kid and capable of making my own decisions.

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.

Every suicide effects more than the individual’s life, in truth it impacts families, communities and economic well-being of our nation. According, Piscopo, Lipari, Cooney, and Glasheen, (2016) “Suicide is an important public health problem in the United States and a tragedy for all involved—families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and communities. In 2014, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States overall.1 Among people aged 10 to 34, suicide was the second highest cause of death, and for those aged 35 to 54, it was the fourth highest cause of death” (p. 2).

Suicide is the final part of the chain and with the information that has been shown, statistically, the more a student continues to fight in their education, the more likely they are to take their lives away. Cris Brownson and all the other authors, write about suicide within college students in “Distress and Suicidality in Higher Education: Implications for Population-Oriented Prevention Paradigms.” Suicide is second most common death within college students according to this paper and the authors want to know why this is to explain to the audience the type of problems college students typically go through. A bunch of students from University of Texas Austin were sampled to find out about their mental health history and found that a 26% of students have considered suicide at least once in their lives, 22% of undergraduate and 18% of graduate students have seriously considered suicide, and 7% of undergraduates and 5% of graduate students have attempted suicide at least once in their lives. It was also reported that 73% of these students most stressful times were because of academic reason, which branch off to financial problems, school work, relationship problems, ect. It also shows that alcohol and drugs play a major role in suicide since students will try overdosing with alcohol and drugs to try to take away their own lives. It was originally

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

In 2004 Congress enacted the Campus Suicide Prevention initiative which provides funds through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Mental Health Services, to college campuses nationwide (Smulson, 2016). The Campus Suicide Prevention initiative supports program activities, mental health screening services, and prevention strategies to form a foundation for mental health promotion, suicide prevention, and substance abuse prevention (Smulson, 2016). While research shows that mental and behavioral health supports can improve student life and functioning, the program falls short in some areas.

Suicide is the intentional act of killing oneself. Typically individuals who commit suicide act out of despair. Common suicide triggers are mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and alcoholism and drug abuse. Personal issues such as financial problems or poor interpersonal relationships play a significant role in the cause of suicide (Gross, 2006).In the U.S suicide is the 6th cause of death. Suicide is also the leading cause of death among teenagers and young adults, more men commit suicide than women (Gelder et al, 2005).Leenar and Lester article mention important information about the general knowledge about suicide in college students. However relevant information is missing.

Too many acts of self destruction occur on college campuses each year, whether it is through binge drinking, anorexia or self-mutilation, the root of all of these displaced outlets of release is depression. This scary fact is one that all college students need to seriously face and look for not only within themselves but within their friends as well. On the campus here at Northeastern University, we have had one reported suicide this year from an icon in our sports program, Joseph Connelly Gazzola, which has hit some people hard. As reported in the Boston Globe by Martha Bartle on February 16, 2004, “Mr. Gazzola's father, Louis, of North Attleborough, yesterday confirmed that his son had taken his own life.” But Northeastern is not alone. NYU has had four deaths this year from what appears to have been suicide.

Each year in the United States approximately 30,000 or 12.93 per 100,00 (prevalence) persons die each year as a result of suicide with an additional 500,000 making a failed attempt. However, in 2013 the official number of reported deaths by suicide totaled 41,149 or 1.6 percent of all reported deaths in the U.S, thereby making suicide the 10th leading cause of death (American Association of Suicidology, 2015). When comparing global suicide statistics, the U.S. ranks 47th amongst the 116 countries included in the study, and although other countries fair far worse, it is important to note, suicide is preventable (World Health Rankings, 2014). These startling statistics are reversible if, we as a society act to dismantle the stigma associated with both emotional and mental disorders given they are often the precursor of suicidal ideation.

Being an undergraduate as an adult is strange. It’s at once unnerving and inspiring. It’s not a unilateral experience, but there are commonalities between adult students; there are a lot of them.

At some point in one’s life they may believe that the only solution to their physical or mental problem is suicide. Although, we think that the majority of people who try to commit suicide just want attention. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the in the United States in 2013, bypassing homicide which came in at 16th place (Facts & Figures, 2014). The facts indications by the CDC estimate that someone will commit suicide in the United States every 13 minutes (Facts & Figures, 2014). Unlike most common disease’s suicide does not discriminate against age, or sex, or social class, it is estimated that males represent 79 percent of the people who do commit suicide in the United States (Facts & Figures, 2014).

According to “USA Today College”, approximately 42,773 Americans commit suicide each year. The Foundation for Suicide Prevention statistics shows that the majority of this number comes from college students on campus. Suicide is the third leading cause of death of the 15 to 24 year old demographic. In fact, one in every 12 U.S. college students considers suicide, and the “National Data on Campus Suicide and Depression” finds that nearly half (49.5%) of the student body has reported feelings of hopelessness in the past year (2016). Enough said.

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.