Introduction
College going students are increasingly being identified as experiencing more psychological challenges in addition to the academic pressure. It is also observed that college going students lack the necessary healthy skills required to deal with the increasing challenges. In most instances, there are also limited channels for students to seek help. Furthermore, in situations where there are channels, they are not friendly or conducive enough. Unhealthy habits such as binge drinking and eating disorders are just symptoms of an underlying serious problem. However, when the underlying problems lead to suicide at the rate being experienced in colleges, it becomes a concern for parents, academic institutions, other students and health care providers. Usually when a problem threatens the lives of a significant percentage of a productive segment of the society, it only becomes obvious that initiatives to establish the root cause are undertaken.
According to Medline Plus (2010), teen suicide is already becoming a major problem in the United States. Medline Plus continues to outline that the most saddening aspect about suicide, is that it is always the last resort during moments of extreme depression. Mostly, human beings develop defence mechanisms for dealing with unpleasant situations. There are various factors that may however prevent persons from effectively dealing with stressful situations effectively. Drug abuse and alcohol have been identified as major stress contributors. Genetic factors where some individuals are more prone to stress than others are also significant. Other factors include age, sex and even race. It is because of these outlined factors that some individuals are prone to committing suicide than others. Suicide usually results from an overwhelming situation experienced by the victim, after which the victim completely loses hope in all aspects and in life itself. The implication is that such an individual has already exhausted all the available coping mechanisms to the best of their knowledge and experience, and realized that the only way out is to take their own lives. It is however, observable that the situation experienced under the influence of drugs and alcohol is somewhat different. The single denominator in all suicide cases is depression. The National Institute of Mental health (2009) identifies depression as a serious risk to the health and general well being of the sufferer. The National Institute of Mental health goes on to outline that depression is a normal occurrence that every person feels and that the feeling should go away after a few days. However, the condition becomes a serious health problem when it is extensive and interferes with daily activities of a person. This paper will look at the reason why suicide is becoming a leading cause of death to college students, the responsibility of the college to the student in preventing suicide and the point where the line needs to be drawn with regard to confidentiality.
Statement of the Problem
Suicide leads to death and it therefore robs a society of loved ones. The implication of extensive suicide is that a society is nurturing individuals who are not able to deal with psychological problems in a healthy way. There is also the possibility that certain factors within the society push individuals to commit suicide. When suicide happens mostly among students who are expected to be at the prime stages of achieving their dreams, it means that there are serious emotional and psychological problems that need to be addressed.
Literature Review
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2009), depression has been identified as a major cause of suicide among college students. Students experience depression due to a number of reasons. Some of the reasons include: problems within families ranging from domestic violence, divorce, death and severed relationship with parents, being ‘dumped’ by a boyfriend or girlfriend and performing continuously poorly in class. Students continuously experienced more emotional and psychological challenges. However, the preventive mechanisms adopted by most institutions have not been able to keep pace with the problems and in most instances students are ill equipped. Furthermore, parents are continuously leaving the care of their teenagers completely to teachers and forgetting their own roles in bringing up of children. In most cases the burden is too heavy for the school to address and therefore students are left vulnerable to negative peer, influence, and negative publicity by the media, alcohol and drug abuse. According to Busko (2007), drug and alcohol abuse is also a leading cause of suicide among college students. Alcohol and drugs reduce the capacity of students to deal with mental challenges that they would have otherwise dealt with successfully. In addition most abused drugs have withdrawal symptoms characterized by depression that may eventually lead to suicides. Therefore drug and alcohol abuse is also responsible for the increasing number of suicides among college students.
Since most suicides occur among students, it is also important to look at the responsibility of the college towards the student and how it pertains to the situation. Since students spend most of their time in school rather than at home, it is the responsibility of the college to employ preventive measures and coping mechanisms to reduce depression and drug abuse among students. A study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), realized that college psychiatrists did not collaborate enough with parents and teachers in ensuring the mental well being of students. Colleges need to have mechanisms aimed at identifying signs of suicide among students. Furthermore, colleges should have efficient channels where the students can be counselled without worrying about issues relating to confidentiality. (Busko, 2007).
According to National Alliance on Mental Illness (2010), confidentiality is always a major concern in cases involving suicide. For instance, it is always debated on whether a psychiatrist, whose patient has just revealed that they are considering suicide, should report the same to the authorities. It is a catch 22 situation because if the psychiatrist fails to report, the student might lose their lives. On the other hand when the psychiatrist reports the case other students may be reluctant to talk to them about their problems. A research by MSNBC (2008), established that most students preferred to talk to their fellow students on mentally and emotionally challenging issues. Some students also preferred talking to family members. On the other hand fewer students sought the services of college psychiatrists.
Recommendations
Colleges should encourage peer to peer counselling because this research has established that students prefer to talk to their peers. In addition colleges should place much more favourable and reachable channels for students to resolve their problems. Parents should also be encouraged to take an active role in bringing up their children. (Family First Aid, 2010).
Conclusion
College suicide is a real problem that requires immediate attention from all stakeholders to prevent the loss of precious human resources. It is preferable when preventive measures are employed and students are trained on healthier ways to deal with depression and negative peer influences.
References
- Busko, M. (2007). College Mental Health Issues and Suicide Prevention Programmes Discussed. MedScape Journal. Web.
- Family First Aid (2010). Teen Suicide Statistics, Signs and Facts: Teen Suicide Deaths U.S., 2001. Web.
- Medline Plus (2010). Suicide.
- MSNBC (2008). Half of College Students Consider Suicide: Mental Health.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2010). Teen Suicide.
- National Institute of Mental Health (2010). Depression.