Auburn University suicide rates are triple what they are expected to be with a student population of approximately 25,000. Many students are not receiving the help they deserve, and this is for a couple reasons.
One reason is because of the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide. This stigma discourages people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts to get help when they hear “people who commit suicide are weak, cowards or selfish." Individuals with a mental illness are often told “Just get over it," “It is all in your head" and “What do you have to be sad or anxious about?” This kind of talk discourages people from seeking help and discussing their feelings.
In addition, many people are afraid to tell others about their mental illness, because they don’t think they will be understood. People learn to hide the pain, and because of this, many families and friends have no idea anything is wrong.
One in four young adults will experience a mental illness. This means that you most likely know someone with a mental illness, and according to the Auburn Student Counseling center, 32 percent of Auburn students with a mental illness have seriously considered suicide. In addition, 8.4 percent of Auburn students with a mental illness have attempted suicide.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young adults between the ages of 16-24. This shows how prevalent mental health is in our society and on our campus and how important it is to seek help.
Auburn students are able to receive help at the Auburn Student Counseling Center. This is a great resource, but it is running at max capacity. It does not have enough counselors for students.
At the end of last semester, there was a wait list of 300 students at the counseling center. This means that 300 students who sought help never received any help.
With suicide rates on the rise, Auburn needs to hire more counselors to make sure any student can receive the help they deserve. How many more students have to die before something is done to increase access to help?
I encourage everyone reading this to write the Auburn Student Counseling Center and ask that it hires more counselors for the sake of the Auburn family. In addition, if you want to help stop the stigmatizing of mental illness and encourage people to seek help, you can join Active Minds, an organization that educates and promotes mental health awareness through fundraising and outreach efforts.
There is also the Out of the Darkness Walk on Oct. 11, which is a fundraising event for research and educational programs about the warning signs of suicide. I encourage you to be careful about what you say about mental illness and suicide. You never know who might hear your comments and how it might affect them.
The Auburn family is worth saving, how will you get involved?
-Branch Acton
Senior majoring in social work
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