Recent deaths on college campuses, including the losses of five George Washington University students in the past five months, have fueled concerns among campus officials at GWU about the efficacy of suicide prevention programs and grief counseling available to student communities.
Robert Wilson, assistant director for educational services at the GWU Counseling Center, said the university has a number of services in place to aid students in coping with these deaths. Of the five deaths at GWU, two were suspected suicides, two were accidental drownings and one was an automobile accident.
“We put a staff psychologist or professional counselor in the residence hall every night from 8 to 10 p.m. since [the] event,” said Wilson. “We have [also] held special sessions for our RA’s to process their own reactions and to further train them to assist students in distress, recognize suicidal symptoms, and make appropriate referrals.”
GWU has a counselor-on-call at all times, a notification system for faculty interacting with grieving students and articles about depression posted on the university Web site.
According to Wilson, the April 18 death of freshman Hasan Hussain, in what campus officials are now calling a suicide, has spurred the creation of a commission to address the issue of overall campus preparedness and university response to such tragedies.
“It will approach the issue of suicide from the point of view of the GW community and the community responsibility for both suicide prevention and a caring response,” he said.
Michael Walker, associate dean of students, will chair this commission, which is comprised of a total of 15 faculty and staff members, and students. He said the group will work through the summer to make recommendations to Linda Donnels, associate vice president and dean of student affairs.
“The university hopes to make any necessary modifications to its existing response protocol and resources for the coming academic year based on this group’s work,” Walker said.
He also stressed that providing support services for staff and faculty, as well as immediate outreach to the deceased student’s family is critical to “helping the community heal.”
The death of Georgetown University sophomore Michal Subczynski this past Monday also left university officials anxious to provide adequate counseling services for the student body. Subczynski’s body was found on the George Washington Parkway early Monday morning. The cause of death has not been determined.
The GU Counseling and Psychiatric Service currently has psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers available on a full-time basis, Julie Green Bataille, assistant vice president of communications, said.
“It is always sad and difficult to deal with these situations,” she said. “Georgetown tries to provide all of the resources and support possible to help both family members and those within our community during these difficult times.”
Grief counseling has become an increasingly important issue as many universities have reported a number of public deaths on their campuses this year.
David Jobes, professor of psychology at Catholic University and past president of the American Association of Suicidology, claims that despite the large number of high profile suicides at college campuses, suicide is not as prevalent among students as it may seem.
“The data clearly shows that it is actually protective to be in a college/university environment when you compare a student cohort [to] a non-student cohort for completed suicide,” he said. “Having said that, suicide is nevertheless the number two leading cause of death behind accidental deaths for college students, so it is of course a concern for all of us who work and live in campus environments.”
Lanny Berman, executive director at the American Association of Suicidology, said that there has been a growing interest by the media about college campus suicides. He agrees with Jobes, however, saying that that there is no concrete evidence for a growing trend in student suicides.
“Some schools clearly have had a rash this year, but others have had clusters in the past,” Berman said.
He added, however, that there still exist a large proportion of students with common risk factors for suicide. These include depression, untreated or under-treated mental disorders, academic stress, and significant relationship problems.
According to Walker, counseling centers on college campuses have seen an increase in use among students over the last 10 years.
He cited a recent Chronicle of Higher Education study at Kansas State University, which found that between 1989 and 2001, the number of students with documented depression doubled, and the proportion of students taking psychiatric medications rose 25 percent.
Walker further referred to a study conducted at Texas State University, which indicated that the percentage of students treated at college counseling centers that had psychological issues, and were under psychotropic drugs, increased from 7 percent in 1992 to 18 percent in 2001.
The TSU study also found that during the past five years, 85 percent of North American student counseling centers reported an increase in students with “severe psychological problems.”
In response to this problem, Jobes said that universities should “continue to do what they do best” in creating communities of higher learning, while also providing support, concern and caring for members of that community.
“In my own research, we have had data from a variety of university counseling centers that show most suicidal college students who seek help can do much better, sometimes in relatively short periods of time,” he said. “The real issue in my view rests on those silently suffering students who do not seek help . . . or have others concerned enough to help them seek help. In most cases, it makes a meaningful difference and can even help save a life.”
Georgetown students and concerned friends can call Patrick Lillis at 202.687.1395 to arrange an appointment and consultation. Campus Ministry also has clergy members of many faith denominations available to provide support. Appointments can be made during weekday business hours by calling 202.687.1395.
