Schools examine suicide policies
Published Oct. 3, 2006
Colleges and universities nationwide are examining their polices after a series of lawsuits have targeted how some schools handled student suicides and attempted suicides.
Director of Residential Life Frankie Minor said that MU does not have a formal policy on whether to expel students who have attempted suicide.
"We've not removed a student because they've attempted or spoken of suicide," Minor said.
A student settled a lawsuit with Hunter College after the New York campus evicted her from her dormitory after she attempted suicide in 2004.
The school has since amended its policy to consider cases on an individual basis.
Allegheny College in Pennsylvania was not held liable for a student's 2001 suicide after he spoke to a school counselor.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology settled a case this year with the family of a student who died in 2001 after taking cyanide.
Minor said that Residential Life sometimes gets involved when a student repeatedly expresses suicidal intentions.
"We have approached students in the past who continue to exhibit this type of behavior and said, 'We may consider removing you from the residence hall,' primarily for the welfare of the other students," Minor said. "Because when this happens, it doesn't just affect the students. It affects the roommate, other students, the community and the student staff."
Minor said that this is a rare occurrence and that Residential Life has never had to remove a student from a residence hall for this reason.
"Our first response is to help the student," he said.
Repeated suicide threats or attempts should still be taken seriously, according to a Missouri Department of Mental Health fact sheet.
"People who threaten suicide must be taken seriously, even if they have no intention of carrying out the threat," the fact sheet stated. "A previous attempt may have generated the attention a person was needing — and needing that attention again, the person may attempt suicide again."
MU has had student suicides in the past.
MU freshman Kyle Masterson died in February after falling from an eighth-floor balcony of Laws Hall.
Police ruled the case an apparent suicide and found a note in Masterson's room in Laws Hall.
College students are often placed under a great deal of stress, said Anne Meyer, the interim coordinator of Programming Consultation and Communication for the MU Counseling Center.
"We see a wide range of presenting issues, including adjustment concerns and homesickness," Meyer said. "We also see quite a bit of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and relationship problems."
Ten percent of college students nationwide report considering suicide, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for those ages 15-24, and the second leading cause of death for college students.
Meyer advises students to listen to friends who express suicidal thoughts.
"You definitely want to take them seriously," she said. "Be open and non-judgmental."
Students can go to the counseling center for advice Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"Generally, confidentiality is assured in the counseling center," Meyer said.
As required by law, if a student has immediate intentions to commit suicide, counselors might break confidentiality for the student's safety.
There are a number of resources available to depressed students on campus.
The counseling center offers walk-in and appointment assessment meetings with mental health professionals.
Students can visit the Student Health Center for psychiatric assessment, medical management and psychotherapy.
Community advisers and peer advisers are also trained through the Department of Residential Life.
"Our CAs and PAs receive some training provided by the counseling center here on campus, and the key thing we try to emphasize upon them is that they, the student staff members, are not counselors themselves," Minor said.