Collegiate Times

For the past couple of years, two Virginia delegates have been working on suicide legislation to incorporate Virginia universities in an effort to make responses to suicidal thoughts.

Del. John Welch (R-Va.) and Del. Albert Eisenberg (D-Va.) have proposed the legislation to make suicidal treatment more “proactive instead of reactive,” Welch said.

Welch was compelled to first initiate the legislation because he felt it was an important issue that had been overlooked. He also “knew somebody who suffered this major catastrophe in their life.”

The greatest advancement of this legislation was receiving participation from every college in Virginia and having “no negativity” regarding the proposal, Welch said.

“The advancement is a teamwork approach … from that we are going to save lives from day one,” Welch said.
Welch believes that students at these institutions are “the cream of the crop” and that something must be done to assess “the problem before it becomes a crisis.”

According to the Virginia General Assembly webpage, suicide is the third leading cause of death for ages 10-24. It is the second leading cause of death for ages 25-34. In Virginia, one teenager every week and two adults every day are lost to suicide.

Welch believes it is his duty as legislator to aid students dealing with suicide by initiating this legislation. The legislation proposes that administration and teachers at schools are trained to know the behavioral patterns of someone dealing with suicide and to know how to help that student.

Rita Klein, psychologist and assistant director at the Cook Counseling Center said that suicidal thoughts come from a lot of different reasons.

The Cook Counseling Center in McComas Hall is covered by the student health fee.

Klein asserts that any student whose peer may be encountering suicidal thoughts or other mental health issues should encourage them to come and get professional help.

Klein said that the Cook Counseling Center will “take any student that comes in the door.”

Because of the availability of professional help on a college campus suicide is not as big of a problem as some may believe on college campuses.

“In all actuality, colleges have lower suicide rates than the general population … The most frequent symptom we see (at the center), is depression,” Klein said. “(Suicidal thoughts are) something we screen for with every single student we see. It is not an uncommon experience for people to have suicidal thoughts … If somebody reports that they are having suicidal thoughts, we then go on to look at how long they have been having them, what started them, exactly what the thoughts are, if they have a specific plan, if they have ever made any attempts and most important is if they plan to act on those thoughts.”

The daily grind of academia also plays a part in college prone suicide and depression, Klein said.

“At times when there is more academic stress, around November, that’s when we’re the busiest, and that’s when we see the most crises,” Klein said.

Sophomore psychology major, Cassie Sheehan, said she knows that being aware of depression and suicide is vital.

“It’s important for people to be aware of exactly what depression and its symptoms are and to pay attention to their friends. A lot of times, people are overwhelmed in a college situation, especially incoming freshmen … they just need someone to listen to them.”