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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1979)
Counseling combats suicides By DIANE BACHA Of the Emerald Students can add a new item to their list of hazards Along with saccharin, cigarette smoking and asbestos-lined hairdryers, suicide is now considered by some to be one of the chief causes of death on American college campuses According to the Center for Informa tion on Suicide in San Diego, suicide was the second leading cause of death among American college students in 1978 Although the University of Oregon has one of the nation's lowest suicide rates for an institution of its size, suicide is a problem that "You've got to take seriously." says Saul Toobert. director of the University Counseling Center Nationwide statistics support his opinion According to Dr Marv Miller, a con sultant in suicidology based in San Diego, the student suicide rate has nearly tnpled in 20 years Mille claims that college students have at least a 50 percent greater chance of dying by suicide than do their peers who don't attend college Miller described the trend as a "near epidemic of self-destructive behavior " The problem hasn't reached "epidemic" proportions at the Univer sity. but Toobert says the Counseling Center handles "a lot of suicide at tempts”. However, he hesitates to specify the number of those who can actually be considered suicidal "It s so difficult to define," be says "Everyone's thought about suicide at one point in life — is that an attempt?" Dr Peter Lewinsohn of the psychology department agrees "All of us have thought of being dead — relatively few people have developed a plan Lewinsohn, who has done extensive research' on depression, is skeptical about the figures that say student suicides ire on the rise Instead, he says, what may be changing is our awareness of suicide or the researchers' criteria" for judging what a suicide is. One way of dealing with the fine line dividing severe depression and suicidal tendencies is to distinguish between "ideation" and "attempts " Dave Ber man, acting director of CARES, Lane County's crisis intervention center, uses this classification for the people he and his colleagues counsel Berman says that in February the center received 50 "ideation calls” — calls from those who indicated they had thought of killing themselves but had taken no action Thirty callers were listed as attempts because they had indicated or implemented a suicide plan Last month the figures were up Idea («f»ph«. f)y Tom f n«l tion calls jumped to 81 and the attempts to 35. says Berman Of those callers. 11 were under 18 and 60 were aged 18-29 Berman can't explain the rise, but said that because CARES is relatively new. it could reflect increased public awareness of its service Although Berman's figures don't apply exclusively to students, they indicate a legitimate cause for concern That concern is not only for the frequency of suicidal tendencies among students, but for the problems that can lead to them "There are many, many more lonely and isolated students around than people are aware of," says Barbara Honeyman. director ot the University Crisis Intervention Center The center receives suicide — related calls "at least once a week, maybe twice." says Honeyman Of those, she says, only tour to six each year result in action such as sending out emergency medical aid But. Honeyman adds, "most people who threaten suicide eventually do kill themselves We always take them seriously " Honeyman says she has noticed an increase in suicide-related calls this year, and adds that there seem to be more male callers than in the past Men are having more permission to express themselves.' she explains She says the calls increase |ust before and after vacations, when a student's sense ot isolation and loneliness is usually heightened Both Honeyman and Toobert have opinions about why students are so vulnerable to crises that can lead to suicide "These are definitely years of strug gle.” says Toobert "It takes you till you’re 30 to find out who you are " Until you do so. he says, you're more vulnerable to feelings of failure and up sets over "unrequited love,” which he considers the Iwo most frequent reasons for student suicides Toobert also agrees with Honeyman, who stresses the impact of being dis connected from one s familiar environ ment for the first time Students who are without their familiar support system — the family, friends and environment they grew up with — are much more suscep tible to severe depression, they say Honeyman considers extreme isola tion and the pressure to perform the two main reasons behind emotional problems that can lead to suicide There can be a person who has gone through this University and has never spoken to anyone.' she says Honeyman says some of the draw backs of campus life are understaffing of counselors and resident assistants (Continued on Page 11) A career in law— without iaw school. 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