Representatives from more than two dozen departments at the University of Connecticut have put together a week of events and training sessions for Suicide Prevention Week, Oct. 4-9, designed to raise awareness of suicide, the second leading cause of death among college students.
“We have to do a better job of communicating to the students that they’re not alone, that help is available if they’re troubled or depressed. And we have to do a better job – faculty, staff and students – of identifying those who are struggling and are in danger,” says Barry Schreier, director of Counseling and Mental Health Services at the University.
“Suicide is of epidemic proportions on U.S. campuses, as we lose more than 1,000 students each year to suicide,” Schreier says. “If a disease was killing that many students each year, the National Guard would be turned out to respond. But with suicide – the death that dare not speak its mind – the response is minimal. At UConn, we will speak about this, we will act, and suicide must be minimized as a way to cope with overwhelming emotions.”
To that end, Schreier started a committee three years ago that developed and has been implementing one of the most comprehensive suicide prevention initiatives in the country. The UConn Suicide Prevention Committee created a program for this year that includes movies, a keynote speaker, memorial service, information tables, T-shirts and, most important, suicide prevention training sessions that will help teach the UConn community how to recognize students who need help, how to intervene, and how to assist in connecting students with the support resources available at UConn.
“QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training is a proven program that can save lives,” Schreier says. “The training sessions are brief and powerful, and if people can’t make the scheduled sessions during Suicide Prevention Week (offered Thursday, Oct. 7, and Friday, Oct. 8, 1-3 p.m., and several times the following week), then we can bring a session to them. If any department is interested, we will gladly offer a session at their office.”
Schreier says it is vital that members of the University community help identify troubled students because, nationally, only about 10-15 percent of college students who complete suicide will visit a counselor on their own.
“Too many people think suicide is something for counseling professionals to handle, but it’s not a counseling problem only, it’s a community problem, so there has to be a community response,” Schreier says. Consequently, he expects the people who have been trained in QPR to continue training others year-round.
“We can keep running events all year, but it’s friends, teachers, colleagues who are our first responders who can make the difference. That’s why they’re so important. Prevention has to go on all year, not just next week, and QPR is the way for us to do this” he adds.
In keeping with the idea that suicide prevention must go on all year, the committee will also offer a Suicide Prevention Week in February, and will schedule monthly events on the topic to heighten awareness.
Adopting the theme “Be Aware, Show You Care,” the committee has scheduled a number of events throughout the week, including a talk in the Student Union Theatre on Monday, Oct. 4, by author Alix Strauss, who wrote Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous, and the Notorious.
Additionally, there will be several movies shown during the week, each led by a discussant, including A Reason to Live at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, in the UConn Women’s Center, and For the Bible Tells Me So, at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8 at the Rainbow Center.
Also scheduled is a student panel discussion, “My Story and What Can We Do to Help?” Oct. 14 at 5:30 p.m. in the African American Cultural Center, and a memorial service on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. on the patio of the Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE).
The committee also has planned an interactive web application through HuskyCT, UConn’s course management software, where participants will be able to test their knowledge of suicide prevention while learning about available resources and what to do to help themselves or others who may be considering suicide.
The group also has established a website – www.suicideprevention.uconn.edu – that will remain active even after prevention week. The site has dozens of links, culturally specific options, and a list of resources for suicide prevention. Community members can also register for one of the QPR sessions at the site.
For more information:
Barry Schreier (860) 486-4705 (office)
Richard Veilleux (860) 486-3530 (office) or (860) 546-6983 (home)
