Suicide and depression show students at risk

Jillian Quattlebaum

Contributing Writer

According to the Richmond and VCU Police’s investigation reports, both departments conducted a death investigation after the body of Sara Prescott, 18, was found Sunday night between Rhoads Hall and Pace Campus Ministry. The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a suicide. Prescott died of blunt force trauma to the head as a result of a fall.

A 2009 survey conducted by VCU’s Wellness Resource Center stated 1.2 percent of VCU students have attempted suicide in the past 12 months and 5.6 percent seriously have considered suicide. Feelings of sadness, severe depression and anxiety occur in more than 30 percent of VCU students.

VCU’s Associate Director of Clinical Services Joy Bressler said the two leading causes of suicide are feelings of hopelessness and severe depression. Bressler also said the patterns across age groups are similar where more females attempt suicide, but more males successfully complete the act.

Bressler said these statistics are correct if all the numbers are reported.

“Many had felt suicidal or made an attempt but told nobody,” Bressler said.

Bressler said people who seek treatment have a better chance of fighting depression.

“The success rate is really pretty good for people that are feeling very depressed and suicidal with receiving therapy and counseling,” Bressler said.  “Sometimes with medication, too.”

While Vice President of University Relations Pamela Lepley said she can not recall an incident of suicide since she has been at VCU, such an event can leave lasting effects. George Mason University experienced the effects of suicide after Trevor Curiel, an 18-year-old freshman from Kansas, was found dead in his dorm on Sept. 1, 2008.

“I had heard about it … while I was at work at the pool on campus,” Caitlin Pfaff, a 21-year-old George Mason student, stated in an e-mail.  “I think everyone was pretty shell-shocked seeing as how it was only the first week of school.”

Pfaff said she did not talk to a professional after the GMU suicide, but she did talk to someone.

“I remember talking to my roommate at the time about it and telling her what I heard. We had a pretty long discussion about it,” Pfaff stated. “It’s always hard for people to come to a different place by themselves, much less college.”

The American Association of Suicidology’s website states the two groups of college students at a higher risk for suicide are those who had a mental-health disorder in the past, and those who developed a disorder while at college.

Based on the 2007 Youth Behavior Surveillance Survey, 14.5 percent of high school students in the United States reported considered making an attempt at suicide in the previous 12 months. A total of 6.9 percent had attempted it.

The current economic recession is a concern for many suicide-prevention advocates.

A survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers states of all 2009 college graduates, less than 20 percent of those who applied for a job have one.

Bressler said the feeling of failing their families is among the reasons why people are at risk for suicide.

“Job loss, feeling like they could no longer support their family; they were being a burden, that it was shameful,” Bressler said. “(There is) a lot of shame around feeling depressed.”

The AAS also states there is a direct link between suicide and unemployment. The peak rate of suicide occurred during the Great Depression. Today, the foundation is worried about most job loss as a major factor.

“When combined with the loss of job,” states the AAS, “home loss has been found to be one of the most common economic strains associated with suicides.”