<p>TIME Magazine describes the dilemma colleges face in dealing with student suicide, the #2 cause of death among college students. Colleges may be held liable if they do nothing, but may also be sued if they take proactive steps:</p>
<p>Interesting article. Thanks for the story!</p>
<p>I find it a bit cold that have been no follow up calls/emails/communication. Perhaps when she leaves the college/uni a student is the responsibility of her/his parents, but as a student who was took voluntary medical leave - but still is a student - they should be at least some interaction, if only to see how the treatment is progressing. I imagine she would not be given any work during her time in the psychiatric hospital, as that would stress her more, I think. </p>
<p>The colleges do seem like they're stuck between a hard place and a rock. I sympathize for them and the students, if the college seems callous in their behavior/treatment. I've been in this situation before and things spiralled out of control. I don't know what happened after that night; I doubt the students were disturbed much. Made for, instead, gossip fodder and since I wasn't close to most of them, nobody could claim to be disturbed. Wasn't the first time or second time it happened there, too. Should have been a head's up anyway.</p>
<p>It's interesting Cornell and MIT were mentioned, as I think they're high-stress universities. Has anybody looked at suicide statistics for colleges that aren't as high-stress/cut-throat competitive and might foster more of a community feeling due to either smaller size or lower student:teacher ratio or a residential campus?</p>
<p>The problem of student suicide is symptomatic of a larger one: inadequate mental health resources for college students. Despite the fact that many mental illnesses emerge during late adolescence and early adulthood, many universities and colleges do not have the safety and screening mechanisms in place to recognize and address mental illness until it is too late. Students to not go from being stable to suicidal without warning. Often, there is a patter of behavior that precedes this: failure to attend class, withdrawing from friends and family, ceasing to turn in assignments, risky and erratic behavior. Disciplinary action is an incredibly inappropriate way of handling this problem. </p>
<p>Mental illness is a problem that universities and colleges must address as a community. It is something that cannot be addressed by student counseling alone (which is often underfunded and understaffed). In order to recognize it and combat it in its earliest stages, everyone from professors to TAs to students to administrative officials should be involved. The approach of universities to mental illness has been one of reaction; for the health of the community, it must become one of prevention.</p>
<p>IzzyJ, I can understand why a small LAC or otherwise less high-pressure school would seem like a better environment for many of these students. However, these present problems of their own. Many are in rural/suburban environments, student counseling/medical resources are more limited, and so on. Many times when a student reports suicidal ideation or otherwise troubling symptoms/behavior, stress is the catalyst but not the cause. It is not the presence of stress, but rather the manner in which the student deals with it. A lack of resources--inadequate prescription coverage or mental health benefits in the student health plan, difficulties obtaining an appt with student counseling, a policy of referring long-term care off-campus, infrequent/irregular support group meetings (if any), and so on--can seriously impact how a student deals with stress in particular and his or her condition as a whole.</p>
<p>And the larger problem that pip-pip mentions is part of an even larger cycle. Recent progress in the development of effective psychotropic medications has enabled thousands of students with mental illnesses to attend college - students who would not have been able to matriculate a decade earlier. The dynamic has created a sudden explosion in the caseloads of college counseling centers which often struggle to understand the latest trends in addressing serious psychological disorders rather than the management of typical impediments to college student success for which they were originally established.</p>
<p>gadad, that's v. true. However, I would argue that students who are aware of their conditions before attending a given school bear a little bit more responsibility (as do their parents). They have a tremendous advantage over other students who become diagnosed with mental illness during their time at college/uni: they know what they're dealing with; they know their symptoms; they know how to treat them and what resources are necessary to do so. Incoming students who have already been diagnosed can anticipate their needs and investigate/evaluate university resources accordingly. Frankly, I'm surprised that more don't.</p>
<p>Furthermore, counseling is only one component of treatment. Medication monitoring is often necessary as well, and universities often select health insurance plans that are insufficient for meeting these needs. For a student away from home, any discontinuity in medication or treatment can be disastrous. </p>
<p>On a more positive note, unis and colleges in the US have to potential to be exceptionally responsive. If all members of the university community (students [and by extension their parents and private doctors at home], profs, TAs, administrators, college/uni supportive and health services) are incorporated into the process of recognizing, treating, and preventing the symptoms of mental illness, then the system become much more effective and efficient. As an added bonus, accountability and liability will be shared, leaving less room for lawsuits.</p>
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<blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Recent progress in the development of effective psychotropic medications has enabled thousands of students with mental illnesses to attend college - students who would not have been able to matriculate a decade earlier.<<<</p> </blockquote> </blockquote>
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<p>This may explain part of the reason that colleges are dealing with more mental health problems, but only a small part of it. The reality is that the rates of depression and anxiety among young people is at an all-time high. To some extent, that represents an greater awareness and therefore diagnosis. But I can't help but think it also stems from the tremendous pressure kids are under to "get serious" about life at ever younger ages. In part, that pressure comes from the hyperfocus on getting into top colleges starting in middle school and even earlier. You gotta wonder if, once kids achieve this highly-touted goal, they don't just burn out.</p>
<p>It seems like what's needed is a set of accepted "best practices" for handling students with suicidal thoughts. If such practices could be established and agreed upon, it might provide the colleges with some defense both in the case of an actual suicide as well as situations where the student thinks he's been treated unfairly. As it is, it's kind of a no-win situation.</p>
<p>One way to look at this, I think, is to compare a potentially suicidal student to one with a life-threatening disease. They wouldn't attempt to treat cancer or a spinal injury in the campus health office, and I think a school is playing with fire if they try to treat a suicidal student with on-campus resources. From both effectiveness and liability standpoints, it seems better to refer the student to outside professionals chosen (or at least approved) by the student or his/her parents.</p>
<p>Cornell sure got hammered in that article...</p>
<p>personally, i think cornell deserved to be hammered. it's kind of heartless--as well as discriminatory. i don't think you'd kick a kid out of school for having a spinal cord injury or cancer. mental health should not be dealt with any differently.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Mental health is a lot easier to fake. Pretending to be, for example, a scizophrenic takes a lot less work than, say, pretending to be a quadraplegic.</p>
<p>what's your point chris c2?</p>
<p>What an asinine comment Chris C2. I'm sorry to sound harsh here; I can only assume that you're unfamiliar with some of the side effects of psychiatric drugs, the stress involved in procuring care and assistance for an individual with a serious mental illness like schizophrenia, and the conditions inside mental institutions. It's awful, and the only reason why anyone would endure it is b.c. it is far better than the symptoms they experience. Individuals with the mentality you expressed above help perpetuate the tremendous stigma that the mentally ill face in this country. Please, educate yourself before making such unwarranted statements.</p>
<p><<they wouldn't="" attempt="" to="" treat="" cancer="" or="" a="" spinal="" injury="" in="" the="" campus="" health="" office,="" and="" i="" think="" school="" is="" playing="" with="" fire="" if="" they="" try="" suicidal="" student="" on-campus="" resources.="" from="" both="" effectiveness="" liability="" standpoints,="" it="" seems="" better="" refer="" outside="" professionals="" chosen="" (or="" at="" least="" approved)="" by="" his="" her="" parents.="">></they></p>
<p>Roger_Dooley, while I think you've got a good start in equating mental illness with other medical problems, I think a more apt analogy may be to another serious chronic condition such as diabetes. While diabetes can be life-threatening, it is manageable through consistent care. </p>
<p>However, in addition to being a chronic illness for individuals, it is a public health problem for unis/colleges. It should not solely be the responsibility of campus counseling. All effective public health initiatives take a multi-pronged approach, and that is precisely what these universities have failed to do.</p>
<p>Is it just me or is completely abandoning a students and ditching him/ her at the time of need seem pretty heartless. </p>
<p>Its just an observation on my part, but I have a feeling that Universities nowadays aren't as much for the students as they should be. Abandoning mentally troubled students or even the Kaavya case, where Harvard totally ditched her, seems a problematic issue.</p>
<p>Kaavya should have been abandoned.</p>
<p>if memory serves me correctly, Cornell's suicide rate is below the national average.</p>
<p>The question also is to which degree the colleges should take over the role of the parents. Right now the schools are being forced down that path by over-litigation.</p>
<p>Many excellent points have been made in this thread. I have found it valuable (and anxiety reducing) to talk to the health center where my kid is going to school, seeing how they are set up to deal with a variety of issues, etc. Colleges must provide a safety net and continually check for holes. All aspects of care, from a dorm resident noticing something, to diagnosis, to continued care for those who already are in treatment should be considered important by the college; where the college's responsibility ends should be spelled out clearly to families. Health insurance must be provided at reasonable cost and must include benefits for mental health. Parents should investigate the health care carefully. The counseling center or health center at a college can't be expected to provide long-term therapy but they should make sure that they have a list of good outside therapists and psychiatrists to whom they refer students. These outside therapists should take the insurance the college offers. The bigger the list, the better. A kid who is considering not continuing medication should definitely talk with his/her doc now, not in August, so they can taper off or do whatever is recommended and see how it goes while they are still at home. It's worth remembering that if your D or S will be 18 when they go off to school, there are privacy issues that you might wish to discuss with them if you expect the school to inform you of any problems.</p>
<p>By adding such services to a healthcare policy you drive up the cost and fewer will buy it. Something to keep in mind before adding a Christmas tree of benefits to a basic health policy. I think beyond basic physical health care and short-term mental help it's up to the parents to step in.</p>