Suicide Prevention Program addresses campus, cultural stigma of suicide

By Katherine Peach
Western Herald

In the United States, suicide kills more people a year than cancer, homicide, HIV or AIDS and in some states, car accidents, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Suicide Prevention Program at Western Michigan University’s University Counseling and Testing Center is working to get people talking about this serious issue.

“One of the things we want to do is address the stigma in this culture and on campus of mental health,” Dr. Kathryn Lewis Ginebaugh, assistant director at the UCTC said. “People who are suicidal are reluctant to get help or let others know that they have issues.”

The program trains students, faculty and staff to recognize warning signs and intervene with a friend or family member at risk.

Studies indicate that up to 94 percent of all those who committed suicide had a treatable mental illness, according to the WHO.

Although suicide rates are down from the 1990s, they continue to remain constant among young people.
“Awful things have happened lately where there was violence and suicide involved,” Ginebaugh said in regards to the much publicized shootings on college campuses. “People are more aware of human misery.”
The UCTC started the Suicide Prevention Program after receiving a federal grant in 2006.

Students, faculty and staff can access more information about the program through the UCTC Web site uctc.wmich.edu.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline 800- 273-TALK can be accessed 24 hours.

Ginebaugh explained the program, Save a Life, has been in the works for a long time.

The in-person, two-hour sessions are open and available to all students. These “gatekeepers” are trained to start dialogues about serious issues.

“How do you help these stressed students and what are the warning signs?” Ginebaugh said. “It’s come more to attention there continues to be a pretty steady rate of people dying by suicide.”

The program specifically wants to address suicide prevention with underrepresented groups around campus.
Ginebaugh said that female graduate students have the highest rate of suicide.

Studies show although men are more likely to die from suicide, women attempt suicide more often.

This is attributed to men using more lethal methods such as firearms or hanging, Ginebaugh said. Women tend to use less lethal methods such as pills.

In Kalamazoo County rates are higher than the national average with suicide being the second-leading cause of death.

The higher occurrences could be due to multiple factors, including unemployment, lack of resources and the drop in the economy, said Delores Walcott a psychologist at the UCTC.

“There is a stigma for going for mental health services and we want to make it more acceptable to get these services,” Walcott said.

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender organization is one group that is underrepresented in high suicide rates.

The LGBT sponsored a suicide awareness walk this fall.

Now that the program is up and running, campus faculty and students offices have made a push this year make students aware about the training and services offered.

The latest campus faculty senate handed out campus faculty and organizations Save a Life cards with UCTC access information.

The Western Student Organization (WSA) is pushing for recognition for these services. President Danielle Harik said the WSA wants to notify off-campus students as well as get the cards to the dorms.

With 24,000 students on campus people need to understand that there are other people going through this too, Harik said.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1737

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 29 2008. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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