With New York University experiencing its sixth student suicide this year, many colleges and universities around the country are examining campus mental health programs and their ability to pinpoint depression and other related mental illnesses.
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said BU has a strong network that is strengthened by the university’s “low threshold” for suicidal remarks.
“You don’t have to have a knife in your hand or be standing on a ledge,” Elmore said. “Any off-handed comment can initiate a response.”
At BU, the Mental Health and Counseling Clinic, The Danielsen Institute, University Chaplains, the Office of Residence Life, the Office of the Dean of Students and the Speak Easy Peer Listening Hotline provide support for students who may be suffering from a psychiatric disorder.
Elmore said he encourages friends and family to contact BU authorities if there is an issue, and immediate action will be taken to get the student psychiatric help.
If authorities are contacted, a BU psychiatrist immediately intervenes and develops a plan of action possibly entailing long-term psychiatric help, Elmore said.
Aside from addressing suicide issues, Elmore said he wants to “keep a watchful eye” on BU’s campus and issues students may be having.
Elmore meets regularly with mental health professionals around campus to exchange ideas and gain a sense of problems or concerns students may have.
“We are trying to be diligent as we always are,” he said. “We try to do things like my meetings and get a sense as to what the issues might be that are cropping up around the campus community that might require a little more attention as they relate to people.”
Elmore attributed “subtle things,” including campus programs, networks of faculty and friends and “building this thing called community,” as crucial steps for supporting good mental health at BU.
“In general, we all need to take care of each other,” he said. “We need to refer to each other and to sit back and take measure of our lives and to say why don’t you go talk to a professor or why don’t you get a third opinion about what might be plaguing you.”
The University Chaplains also provide a wide range of counseling services for students.
“Chaplains are an unknown resource for psychiatric care and counseling for all kinds of questions that come up about mental health and coping at school,” Associate Dean and Chaplain Meredith Ellis said.
The Chaplains deal with crisis intervention and coordinate with other mental health services around campus to identify what kind of “safety network” is in place and prevent “holes in the system,” Ellis said.
Among the many referrals Ellis said she receives, only two or three a year involve potential suicide. If a student shows signs of potential harm to him or herself, Ellis said she immediately contacts the Mental Health and Counseling Center for psychiatric intervention.
“I know what it looks like,” Ellis said. “I know what it feels like.”
Overall, Ellis said she believes BU has a good system for identifying and supporting mental illness but is concerned students are not aware of the resources that are available.
“My main concern is do kids know where to go,” she said.
The Danielsen Institute, located on Bay State Road, is another resource for students and receives referrals from the BU community.
According to Dr. George Stavros, Clinical Services director, the institute assesses, diagnoses and treats a wide range of psychiatric disorders, interpersonal problems and related family issues and is also a certified pastoral counseling center.
“We see a lot of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders or just eating problems,” Stavros said. “From an assessment point we want to try to figure out what is contributing to any one of those symptoms.”
While Stavros said he feels BU has a good community and culture, he said there has been some upheaval due to the July closing of the Counseling and Wellness Center, and the University needs more theme-oriented student groups to address issues such as substance abuse, eating disorders and stress management.
“There is a pretty good community and culture at BU,” he said. “In general, I don’t think anybody here wants anybody to slip through the cracks and unduly suffer or get into a situation where they need support and can’t get it.”
Stavros attributed the increase of student suicides to a “convergence of factors” including the pressure for college success, larger societal issues, pre-existing vulnerabilities, historical family issues and some sort of present day emotional trauma that is so unbearable that death is seemingly the only escape option.
“The greatest danger around suicide is either silence or denial,” he said. “I would just want to try and raise everyone’s awareness as to what to pay attention to that has been proven as markers of imminent risk.”
Many students have mixed feelings about suicide and the action the university should take for prevention.
“I don’t know what the university should do,” said Charles Townely, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore. “It is more of an individual thing. I don’t think the university should have to deal with that.”
But College of General Studies freshman Johanna Cipau disagreed.
“I think there should be some place they can go talk to people,” she said. “You are thrown into this situation and you don’t know anyone so I think that people could just get caught in the under and not meet anyone and just kind of be alone and left out.”