Colleges Are Training Students to Help Peers at Risk for Suicide

This is part of a series of stories to bring awareness to the issue of suicide, in honor of National Suicide Prevention Month. If you or someone you know needs support, contact the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Two students at Stanford University died by suicide. A University of Florida doctoral student, University of Buffalo law student, Texas State University student, 20-year-old University of Colorado Boulder student and a student at Claremont McKenna College in California died by suicide. And Denison University in Ohio canceled classes after a female student died by suicide.

All in 2019.

One in five college students reported thoughts of suicide, according to a 2018 study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. And it was the second-leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 34, according to the CDC.

Now colleges are training students to help peers who are at risk for depression and suicide.

Silence is the most common response when you tell someone you’ve been thinking about suicide, said Laura Lewis, assistant director of Suicide Prevention Program at The Ohio State University.

That needs to change, she said.

“We’re silent often because we’re afraid. We don’t know what to say or we’re afraid we’re going to say the wrong thing.”

For the full story: https://www.rewire.org/living/colleges-training-students-suicide-risk/