Suicide Amongst College Students

 It can range anywhere from mild depression and anxiety or lead to alcohol and drug rehabilitation or even suicide. I was shocked at the amount of death certificates our company would receive where the cause of death was suicide. I have often wondered what would cause a young adult to make that kind of decision. Well, since I have to review the medical records, it didn’t take me long to find out why.

For one student, I will call her “Amy”, she had just moved from another country. She was unfamiliar with America but wanted to come here to further her education. She started her semester off doing very well in school, but it didn’t take long for her to become home sick. She apparently wasn’t making any friends and all that her life consisted of was school, her part time job, and her apartment. She started shutting herself off from the outside world because her classes were very intense and she wanted to be sure to make good grades. Her grades did start slipping which only made her more determined to give it everything she had. One day, during her second semester, she decided to finally take a day to relax. She decided to go for a bike ride. While she was out riding, she was involved in an accident which broke her right leg in a few areas. She had to undergo surgery the next day. Her parents were unable to come be with her during this time which made her recovery more difficult. In the midst of all of this, she ended her life.

I can’t say for certain if the mounting stress was the reason she killed herself or if there was some underlying cause. In many cases that I have read about where a student committed suicide or attempted to commit suicide, it is often related to stress in one way or another. I have seen in a few situations were the death was an accident. Where a student may have overdosed on something but never gave any indication that there was ever a reason they would want to end their life.

I don’t think there is a way to rid the stress in your life but you can certainly learn how to handle stress. With the increase that I have seen in just the past four years involving the suicide rate with college students, it makes sense that there should be programs available on campuses to teach student how to handle the stress they may be dealing with at this time in their lives. There should be private sessions and classes to help students in any way possible.