Suicide Prevention & Mental health Resources For Colleges

 

 

NEWS ARTICLES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • “Bucking Privacy Concerns, Cornell Acts as Watchdog, Staff Trained to Spot Students in Distress; Campus Suicides Drop” by Elizabeth Bernstein, The Wall Street Journal.

      http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119881134406054777.html

 

  • “Colleges Put Out Safety Nets” by Marilyn Elias, USA Today.

      http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-15-college-safety_N.htm#uslPageReturn

 

  • “Falling Through the Cracks – Virginia Tech and the Restructuring of College Mental Health Services” by Miriam Shuchman, M.D., The New England Journal of Medicine.

      http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/2/105

 

  • National Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Campaign for Colleges and Universities

      http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/0803273627.aspx

      SAMHSA in collaboration with the Ad Council has delivered their National Mental Health Stigma public service advertising (PSA) campaign for the     first time directly to colleges and universities throughout the country. The campaign aims to reach 18-25 year olds and is designed to decrease negative attitudes that surround mental illness by encouraging these young adults to support friends with mental health problems.

 

  • “Preventing Suicide on College Campuses”, SAMHSA News

      http://www.samhsa.gov/SAMHSA_News/VolumeXV_6/November_December_2007.pdf

      In the November/December 2007 edition topics related to the prevention of suicide on college campuses are highlighted.

 

  • “Sense of belonging a key to suicide prevention” by Anne Harding, Reuters.

      http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL26912120080402?feedType=RSS&feedName=he      althNews

 

 

INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

  • Advancing School Mental Health

      http://csmh.umaryland.edu/conf_meet/AnnualConference/

      The 13th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health will be held in Phoenix, Arizona on September 25-27. Sponsored by the Center for School Mental Health (CSMH) and the IDEA   Partnership, this year’s conference theme is “School Mental Health for All Students: Building a Shared Agenda for Youth, Families, Schools, and Communities.”

 

  • March 2008 Programming Focuses on College Students’ Mental Health

      www.halfofus.com

 

      The Jed Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on preventing suicide among college students, and mtvU, MTV’s college network, have dedicated March programming to college students’ mental health. A component of the “Half of Us” campaign, the programming will focus on the toll that stress and other emotional issues are having on the national college audience and provide additional online resources and information about where to get help on campus. Learn more about this campaign and current programming at mtvU’s “Half of Us website.

 

  • The Jed Foundation offers the following resources:

 

      - Approach to Comprehensive Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for Colleges and       Universities

      http://www.jedfoundation.org/documents/Mental_Health_Model.pdf

 

      -Campus Care: A new initiative designed to assist campuses in improving student mental health and       well-being

      http://www.jedfoundation.org/documents/CampusCareFlyer-FINAL.doc

 

      - Depression and Suicidal Behaviors in Students Studying Abroad: Identifying Students at Risk

      http://www.jedfoundation.org/documents/StudyAbroadBrochure.pdf

 

      - ”Framework for Developing Institutional Protocols for the Acutely Distressed or Suicidal College       Student

      http://www.jedfoundation.org/framework.php

 

      - The Jed Foundation Framework: Developing Campus Protocols for the At-Risk Student (PowerPoint)

      http://www.aucccd.org/conference/2006_Proceedings/Aucccd%20Docs/Jed_foundation_framework.ppt

 

      - What information and resources are useful for a college to consider when planning suicide prevention       initiatives on campus?

      http://www.jedfoundation.org/libraryNews_colleges_prevention.php

 

  • “Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Suicide in College and University Settings” by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

      http://www.sprc.org/library/college_sp_whitepaper.pdf

 

  • “Virginia Tech Tragedy: Tips for Educators, Students and Parents” by Mental Health America.

      http://www.nmha.org/go/coping-virginia-tech

 

 

RESEARCH

  • “An empirically supported program to prevent suicide in a college student population” by P. Joffe, Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior

      http://www.atypon-link.com/GPI/doi/abs/10.1521/suli.2008.38.1.87

      This detailed report of widely known, but less understood, intervention describes the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne’s suicide prevention program, which includes a policy requiring any student who threatens or attempts suicide to attend four sessions of professional assessment as a   condition of continued enrollment in the university. The program also includes a Suicide Prevention Team, to whom 2,017 suicide incidents have been submitted since the program’s inception 21 years ago. After implementation of the program, the rate of suicide at locations within Champaign County (the university’s location) declined 45.3 percent compared to the eight years prior.

 

 

  • “Should we invest in suicide prevention” by Sari, Castro, Newman, and Mills, The Journal of Socio-Economics.

      http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6W5H-4MWPV69-4/2/587198985f841da3b18535be4c 2d1020

      Suicide is the third leading cause of death among college aged youth in Florida. However, there is no prevention program targeting this population group. This paper examines the potential impact of making        two prevention programs, general suicide education, and peer support programs available for college students. The results show that both programs increase social welfare by creating social benefits which      exceed the costs of the programs.

 

  • “Suicidal anorexics: Determined to die?” by Kathleen Kingsbury, Time Magazine

      http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1718069,00.html

      New research conducted at the University of Vermont supports the previous research findings     indicating that women with anorexia nervosa are more likely than women without anorexia to die by        suicide. Researchers claim that anorexics have a “likelier propensity toward suicide” and that they      choose more lethal means when attempting suicide.

 

 

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

  • Helping Hands Grant Program

      http://www.psychfoundation.org/helping_hands.cfm

      This program was established to encourage medical students to participate in community service activities, particularly those focused on underserved populations; raise awareness of mental illness and the importance of early recognition of illness; and build and interest amongst medical students in psychiatry and working in underserved communities.