Suicides
Tuesday, October 23, 1979
. . .
From page one
Most student suicides occur between midnight and 6 a.m., and the most common method is the use of a firearm.
But these trends are based only on numbers. Suicide is not reserved for those who fit the statistical description.
"Sucicide is an alternative that is available to every one of us." Bachman said.
WHILE THE CAUSE and whoever the person, what Nearinger calls a suicide “continuum” can quickly carry a student from depression to despondency.
Anyone—parents, friends, roommates—can use the tools of the professional counselor to break that continuum.
"You have to watch for the non-verbal signs," Mikkelson said. "In one case, a student started selling his clothes."
Residence hall advisers are taught to watch for those signs, which usually begin with social withdrawal and can also include
a lack of interest in school, excessive eating or drinking, starvation, or vacillations in mood from despondency to frenetic cheerfulness.
If a person seems to be on the path to suicide, Mikkelson said, the residence hall advisers will "draw a net" around him.
They will try to involve the student in hall activities. They will enlist the help of other students and teachers to make friendly faces. And, if suicide becomes imminent, they will not leave the student.
"Our staff has intervened in several cases and, I know, saved lives," Mikkelson said. "In one case it meant going to a bridge and talking the person out of it."
EPSTEIN AND Bachman, at Headquarters, said several failures about suicides can be dispelled in order to help treat such individuals more effectively.
"It is not a valid assumption that, because a person talks about it, he won't do it," Bacchman said. "In one study, 80 percent of the students who had sexed sadue had talked about it before."
And, most often, if a person is thinking about killing himself, he won't come right away. "If you don't feel like life is worth it," or "I don't feel my life is worth it," or "Would they feel if I were gone?" "Epstein
and once someone starts to confide his feelings, it is not a good idea to avoid mentioning suicide in the hope of dispelling the thought.
"You have to bring it up," Epstein said. "You have to eventually say, Hey, are you thinking about killing yourself?" That will bring either a firm no or a sign of relief.
"Giving the person the opportunity to talk about it helps him deal with it."
AT KU, there is no dearth of professional
help. the people at KU Information Center are trained in crisis intervention and they can also refer a caller to a counselor 24 hours a day.
Headquarters and the Bert Nash Mental Health Center, 4th & Missouri streets, are open around the clock.
The University Counseling Center in Bailey Hall, the Psychological Clinic in Bailey Hall, and the Mental Center in Twente Annex and the Mental Center in Twente Annex are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
Sorority Rush 1980 Registration Meeting
Bring your questions!
Rush will be held January 9-14,1980.
BLOOD DRIVE
. . . continuing Today and Tomorrow 11:30-4:30 p.m.
Kansas Union Ballroom
Give according to appointments scheduled last week Walk-ins are encouraged but should expect to wait.
Sponsored by: Panhellenic Assoc., Interfraternity Council, Assoc. of University Res. Halls, and Circle K Club