<p>^^ Sorry I misread your earlier post (#10), nngmm. Yes, plenty of kids with MH issues DO attend college (I thought your post said they didn’t get to attend college-- sorry) but sadly, I am not convinced that any more students now, with problems that range from less severe adjustment issues to very severe thought disorders, feel any more comfortable seeking out help for their problems than in the past. In fact, there were several threads a year or so back that said that some kids who went to see college MH counselors and verbalized suicidal ideation were getting kicked out of school <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/155312-gwu-expelled-depressed-student-who-sought-help.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/155312-gwu-expelled-depressed-student-who-sought-help.html</a>, forced to take a LOA or move out of the dorms. Thats just outrageous. Not only does it likely make the students situation worse, but it reduces the likelihood that a student will feel comfortable seeking help for their issues. The system is broken and needs to be fixed. The stigma of MH issues is unkind and unfair.</p>
<p>Depression is a horrible illness, when it is clinical. Medication works to a certain extent, but not completely, and even then, medicating is a very inexact science and students are still in the adolescent range early in college when medication can, in fact, create suicidal impulses. The pressure during weeks like finals weeks can exacerbate the illness in some and create even worse feelings of hopelessness, however, I would caution anyone against thinking suicide is something which occurs simply because of stress. It is not.</p>
<p>my heart goes out to any family who has experienced this kind of loss. It has far reaching implications and can take years to get to the point where it no longer ripples dangerously and painfully through the extended family.</p>
<p>poetgrl,
There are lots of risk factors for suicide, and, sadly, many suicides are the result of something <em>other</em> than depression. Some get the publicity like the ones like people getting caught after a criminal act. But there are others who, unfortunately, see suicide as a simple solution to a bigger problem. And they may not meet criteria for depression according to the DSM. Suicide may not occurr simply because of stress, but many suicides occur for many reasons associated with stress.</p>
<p>Here is a list of warning signs and risk factors. Please note the risk factors-- there are many associated with academic and/or pressure <a href=“http://www.yellowribbon.org/WarningSigns.html[/url]”>http://www.yellowribbon.org/WarningSigns.html</a></p>
<p>OP here – about the thread title: I inadvertantly changed “crisis” to “epidemic” – my bad. I never know what to title my threads, and in this case, as jym points out, perhaps I just wanted people to click in and read it. I didn’t find the article sensationalistic at all.
If we dig deeper, we hear stories like this at almost every school. I was not trying to make any comments about the economy or today’s youth – just pointing out that kids can feel very, very alone with their feelings of despair. Talking with your kids about what they would do if they ever felt this way is, to me, a good thing.
I have suffered from depression and can only hope that my discussions about it with my daughters have led them to know when to seek help.</p>
<p>I will not argue about criteria on a thread where families suffering the loss and grief that suicide leaves behind might read. My heart goes out to any families who have suffered such a loss. The few clients I have seen who have lost brothers and sisters to this have been so lost, I see no reason to carry on that type of dispute. Suffice it to say that depression, clinical, is a terrible illness and while there may be outliers, is the major cause of such hopeless action. <a href=“http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml[/url]”>http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml</a></p>
<p>^^^ Do not disagree at all that depression is a terrible illness, and that some patients who are depressed consider suicide, with the most vulnerable time being when they start to feel better and more energized. </p>
<p>Poetgrl, you and I are both in this field and have seen the clinical cases of depression. But I have a <em>different</em> thought. Of course we should be sensitive to the feelings of others, especially those who have lost loved ones to suicide (see my comment about stagmitizing, stereotyping and insensitivity in post # 17). But we should also take this opportunity, as was the OP’s intention, to educate others about the many risk factors, and encourage ourselves or our loved ones to seek help if they begin to feel that suicide will help them stop their pain, whatever the cause. If we can help one person here by talking openly about this issue on this thread, that is a good thing. Perhaps the posters here who lost their family members to suicide many years ago would appreciate the opportunity to talk about it and/or learn more about the risk factors. Knowledge is power, IMO. To me, saying that we shouldn’t talk about these issues in front of people who might be hurt by reading it merely feeds the “hush hush” mentality that feeds into the stigma of MH issues. JMO. </p>
<p>I trust that if someone here doesn’t want to read these posts, they are free, and may choose not to. I, however, hope that they do read these, and that they understand that suicide wasn’t their fault, etc. However, I do agree with you that the “surviver guilt” of family members is a discussion for another thread.</p>
<p>I live in a community where depression and most mental health issues have been largely destigmatized due to some amazing work by parents who have lost thier children to suicide. I have no problem at all talking about the risk factors related to suicide, but I don’t want to have one of those classical CC arguments, is all. :)</p>
<p>As you can see from my link, 90% of suicides are the result of substance abuse issues and depression. Substance abuse mimics depression, as it causes the depression of the central nervous sytem. (as you know.) </p>
<p>You and I would both agree that the most important thing is to get help if this has happened in your family and especially to get help for any siblings. The best resource for finding help for young people who have witnessed this, lost a friend, or family member is your family doctor or pediatrician.</p>
<p>^^ agreed, poetgrl. You are fortunate that your community has de-stigmatized depression and MH issues. If only this could happen nationwide. That would be wonderful. As your NIMH link shows, one of the risk factors for suicide is a family history of suicide, so again, talking about it is, IMO, an important thing. To me, your post #22 seemed to suggest that mostly people with severe depression were the ones at risk of suicide, so posters shouldn’t overreact or worry unnecessarily about normal school stress. My response was to encourage people not to minimize the other risk factors. Better to prevent a suicide than to deal with the horrifically painful aftermath for the friends and family.</p>
<p>One of my roommates in grad school (she was a med student) mother suicided while the mom was on vacation (not terribly far from where we were in school, in fact). I still remember her cry out, and helping her deal with the acute issues, her guilt, sadness, thought that she could or should have prevented it, seen the signs, etc after that call, as if it was yesterday. It was almost 30 years ago. As you know-- this stuff stays with you. My response to your post was not to argue, but to clarify that while depression may be a leading cause of suicide or suicide attempts, there are many other triggers, and we shouldn’t assume it won’t happen to someone we love. Stress can lead to suicidal ideation. I would not be surprised if the suicide rate is climbing in this economic recession. It certainly did in the depression of the 30’s. We should watch for signs in our friends and family, not just our kids.</p>
<p>Small clarification, poetgrl,
I believe the NIMH statistics of suicide risk factors you appropriately cite
means that the high percentage of successful suicides occur in people who have had depression and/or other mental health issues and/or or a substance abuse issue, possibly in combination, but not necessarily that the suicides are a <em>result</em> of these variables. I assume thats what you meant to say.</p>
<p>Compassion and understanding is necessary and appropriate. I would never want to deprive a victim’s family of support. However, around here there has been a disturbing trend of turning suicide victims into local heros. We name community events after them, scholarship funds, etc. IMO, that is not appropriate because suicide is not a brave, noble, or desirable option for people who are hurting. In our contemporary teen culture in which kids feel the need to document their every thought, action, invitation, social event, etc. on twitter, via texting, and on facebook, I worry that the trememdous publicity and attention given to these cases might spur another troubled kid to do the same. Indeed, we do see copycat attempts after highly publicized cases. A child might say to himself, “At least when I’m dead people will notice and love me.” There has got to be some way to de-stigmatize without glorifying suicide.</p>
<p>According to the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: </p>
<p><a href=“http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/suicideprevention/young.asp[/url]”>http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/suicideprevention/young.asp</a></p>
<p>
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<p>Then, according to the various posts on this board, colleges should help with the roommate situation a little better! I wonder if college counselling is being beefed up (or cut back) in the current economic climate?</p>
<p>I can’t imagine anything more painful than the suicide of a family member or friend. My heart goes out to all of you who still suffer.
Nor can I imagine a community glorifying suicide. This sounds so strange to me.</p>
<p>I am the child of a parent who had multiple suicide attempts while I was growing up. Also multiple psych ward stays. My parents divorced. We knew my Dad was mentally ill but it was never talked about. Even when we visited him in the hospital my Mom did not tell us why. We were pretty well trained to not ask. My Dad lived a pretty sad life. He ended up dying of a heart attack while living in a board and care facility run by the VA. I wish we had talked more openly.As an adult I am learning more about my Dad and his illness from my oldest sibling. My parents had a lot of kids and due to age differences our experiences and memories are quite different. My oldest sibling never forgave my Dad for a suicide attempt when she was 11 yrs old. She was the one to find him. Her opinion is suicide is an cowardly and selfish act.
When severe depression began in one of my own children I had no clue that what my Dad suffered from might be genetic. I missed many clues. One of my siblings also suffers from a mental illness. We all seemed surprised. Yet the clues were all there.
We have a young adult family member who has had several suicide attempts. The family member would not be described as suicidal. But at times it impulsively seems like the right way out of a painful situation. My niece told her parents she was scared to death that one time she would succeed and she needed help. She did not want to die.</p>
<p>mom60 – Thank you for sharing your experiences.</p>
<p>I keep hearing that certain colleges, Cornell, MIT and and a couple of the other “pressure cooker” colleges have more problems with suicides. On some tours we’ve been told these are “urban legends”.</p>
<p>mom60 – Yes, thanks for sharing your story. Depression runs in my family and another type of mental illness on my husband’s side. So much more is known about mental illness now and it is so much more acceptable to talk about it.</p>
<p>I struggle with depression which I’m able to manage. I’ve made sure my kids know about my family’s history with depression since they might have trouble with it someday. When signs of the mental illness which runs in my husband’s side of the family showed up in my son we got him help right away and the treatment seems to working very well.</p>
<p>whiteagle–I do not think they are urban legends. We had a psychiatrist tell us that, in fact, some schools do have more suicides. It appears to be something that doctors have access to.</p>
<p>I think bottom line, is that ALL colleges and ALL workplaces must not stigmatize suicides/depression,mental illness as has been the case for decades but instead treat it like any other disease, or disability with the proper support, services,therapy and most of all acceptance that is widespread and universally acknowledged. Until that shroud of mystery and alienation is removed from those suffering, we will sadly continue to see those who have succumbed to feeling defeated beyond repair, take their lives. It is a tragedy for sure but one that I really feel with a very progressive and aggressive approach can if not be irradicated, at least greatly reduced. We are reading about way to many cases in the media…it is truly heartbreaking.</p>
<p>For schizophrenia, major risk factors are genetics, maternal prenatal influenza, strict parenting style and living in the city. College age is when many of the major MH issues hit and the stress of college can be the triggering point.</p>
<p>It seems difficult to me to expect the college to be able to catch or prevent problems. Kids live in dorms and so their dorm-mates should see abnormalities but I’d guess that very few college students have any training in recognizing problems or in trying to figure out what to do about them. If the school does find out early, their options are probably pretty limited. They could certainly provide counseling but what kind of process would they put in place where involuntary commitment is required or where this would have to be determined. Would they contact the parents? What about privacy issues? The parents would be need to provide a history and perhaps sign permissions for treatment.</p>
<p>Research is slowly showing how these illnesses come about from the identified risk factors. There are some things that can be done on the prevention side such as avoiding the risk factors that can be avoided. Hopefully our pharmaceutical companies will come out with better and better treatments over time. I don’t know if a cure is a possibility.</p>