Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Speaking Up About Suicide

In the past school year, Cameron Dabaghi, Tyler Clementi and Whitney Mayer has each received national attention. All three were young, bright and highly driven individuals working toward degrees at three of the nation’s most respected universities. A junior at Yale, a freshman at Rutgers and a sophomore at William and Mary, respectively, these students were propelled into the spotlight not for academic achievement or athletic feat, but for their deaths.

Dabaghi, Clementi and Mayer each committed suicide, cutting their lives short and leaving family and friends aching to know what went wrong.

In the shadow of these students’ deaths, campuses nationwide cope with a larger problem facing today’s youth. At some point or another, every college student will feel stressed, anxious or depressed. With strict deadlines, extracurricular activities and the complexity of social relationships, college students may struggle to retain any sort of balance without feeling overwhelmed.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, approximately 1,200 college students commit suicide every year, making it the second leading cause of death for college-age young adults. Additionally, a study conducted in June by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the University of Maryland and other institutions concluded that one in 10 college students have contemplated suicide. With these grim statistics looming in the background, many are forced to wonder what drives young people to make the most final of decisions.

At Georgetown, the rising publicity about college suicide has prompted students, health experts, faculty and administrators to think about well-being and the growing prevalence of mental illness among college-age students. The students who have made headlines this year may have resembled someone on the Hilltop: a tennis partner, a calculus tutor or a study companion in Lauinger Library. On the outside, they looked and acted like the average college student, but on the inside they struggled to keep up the act.

“Many students are stable at home, but [when they come to college] they are in an unfamiliar environment,” says Maria Donoghue, Ph.D., an associate professor of biology at Georgetown. “Coming to college and having new stressors can severely alter brain chemistry.”

According to Donoghue, a neuroscientist by training, brains are not fully developed until about the age of 26. Because the minds of students are still evolving during their academic careers, they are much more fragile.

“Brain chemistry is the result of experiences,” explains Donoghue. With new stressors and a new environment, the 18-to-24 age range is the average time of onset for many mental health diseases, including anxiety and depression, says the Jed Foundation, an organization that works to reduce the rate and prevalence of suicide among college-age students.

“Depression can often make one feel alone and so those who suffer from it often withdraw from their peers,” says Emma Stokien (COL ’12), treasurer of Georgetown’s Suicide Prevention Club. Founded last year by Angela Catalano (COL ’12), the club is meant to provide a support network for anyone on campus who might be struggling with depression.

While Catalano has studied abroad in Dublin this semester, Elizabeth Sinden (COL ’12) has acted as interim president of the club. According to Sinden, the club’s two main initiatives are “to act as a liaison between the student body and the resources available on campus; and to remove some of the stigma often attached to [students] seeking and utilizing those resources and attached to [students suffering from] psychological issues such as depression and suicidal thoughts.”

This stigma connected with depression and suicide is perhaps the biggest deterrent to students seeking help for mental health problems. According to the Jed Foundation, only 20 percent of students say they would seek help at their school’s counseling center.

One senior in the College, who asked to remain anonymous, described his experience battling feelings of depression, and at times, thoughts of suicide.

“I was feeling pretty horrible about myself. It lasted for quite some time and I realized it was not going away,” he said. A friend encouraged him to seek counseling services.

“I never really thought of it, because of pride reasons, but pride should not stop you from doing it,” he said. 

Stokien said a reluctance to look for help is common among many students suffering from depression.

“People with depression often feel that seeking help is a sign of weakness even though it should be treated like any other illness,” says Stokien.

And statistics show students are particularly vulnerable to illnesses like mental anxiety. In a 2008 survey from the American College Health Association, 30 percent of students reported feeling so depressed that it was difficult to function and 49 percent felt overwhelming anxiety within the past 12 months.

Health and wellness resources at Georgetown look to erase these stark realities. Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) is the university’s primary facility for students struggling to cope with personal health problems. All full-time students are eligible to use CAPS’ services, and everyone is entitled to free initial consultations, evaluations and brief counseling. Students only pay if extended counseling or medication is deemed necessary.

When he consulted CAPS, said the senior struggling with depression, the specialists there empowered him to seek help in other areas.

“The people at the center tell you that you are not alone. They really taught me to trust the support network, [to reach out to people] and to talk to friends.”

Since then, he said he began to feel more in balance.

“It was really something that was beneficial for me.”

Through her involvement with the suicide prevention club, Stokien hopes that more students struggling independently will realize that there are resources available to help them get better.

“Making sure there is open dialogue about depression and visible support on campus will hopefully create greater understanding about the issue and help students who suffer from depression successfully combat it,” she says.

For those 80 percent of students who might be afraid of visiting the counseling center in person, the university’s Health Education Services has set up Hoyas Anonymous.

“Hoyas Anonymous serves as an outlet for students to share their secrets and find consolation in the knowledge that other Hoyas have similar feelings and experiences,” says student staff member Kylie Sago (COL ’13).

The service is a blog that allows students to post anonymous messages about personal issues that they might otherwise be afraid to admit out loud. Like the Suicide Prevention Club, the blog’s goal is to create a support network that eliminates stigmas and assumptions so that experiences can be grounded in a common base.

While having resources like CAPS and Hoyas Anonymous is essential, unfortunately there is no way to ensure that students who are in need of help will seek it. Because of this, it is important for members of the community to reach out to those they think might be struggling with mental illness.

“I have walked many students over to CAPS,” says Donoghue. University faculty is advised to always be on the lookout for warning signs among students that might hint that they are struggling. If they suspect a student might be having a hard time, professors can contact the dean’s office. From there, the office contacts other professors of the student in order to identify whether or not an intervention is needed.

For Stokien and the Suicide Prevention Club, spreading awareness across campus about the seriousness of mental illness is critical. “The bigger and more present this club can be, the more we can raise awareness about the issue, break down some of the stigma that keeps students from getting help, and encourage those who feel like they could benefit from addressing their illness to do so rather than to pretend it does not exist or try to fight it alone,” Stokien says.

The road to fuller mental health is long, and the emotional pain can take a significant toll on the student demographic. Depression can complicate the simplest of everyday tasks — whether completing school work or nurturing friendships — and may even lead to thoughts of suicide. But for struggling students on campus, knowing that others may be in the same boat should give solace. By expanding resources on the institutional level and on the ground, many at Georgetown are working to ensure that no one suffers alone.

“I am a lot better,” said the senior, who dealt with mental health issues just as thousands of college students across the country do everyday.

He had words of advice for others in the same situation.

“It’s a process of being really open to yourself about what is going on. It is a process of denial, and once you come to the realization that some things you need other people to help you with, whether that be CAPS or a good network of friends or a counselor on campus or even a professor, once you have that you begin to see things a lot more clearly, put things in better perspective.”

A semester has passed since he sought counseling, and life on the Hilltop has improved.

“Since that time I have been a lot happier. I see things a lot better and it has been easier to be here now.”

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