[YSPNetwork] Fwd: [SUICIDOLOGY] Va. Tech

[Donna NOONAN]

YSPNetworkers,
Here is the 2nd article, a column from the Mercury News, which you can
find below and at http://www.mercurynews.com/pattyfisher
 
 Face the real issue, untreated mental illnessBy Patty Fisher
Mercury News04/18/2007 01:32:14 AM PDT Every year, 1,100 college
students in America kill themselves. That's an average of three suicides
a day. Most are quiet tragedies that don't make the evening news. Cho
Sueng Hui made sure his death would not be a private affair. His
suicidal rampage left more than 30 people dead. And it left people
asking how the carnage could have been prevented, why the cops didn't
lock down the campus. 
I think those are the wrong questions.
Instead of calling for metal detectors and key cards, Americans should
be calling for improved mental health care. 
We should be asking how weird and anti-social someone has to be before
he's identified as a danger to himself and others. We should be asking
how a severely depressed young man could walk into a Roanoke, Va., gun
store and buy a Glock 9-mm handgun. 
And here in Santa Clara County, we should be asking why our county
supervisors are considering cutting $34 million from the mental health
budget next year and closing four community clinics.
It's natural in the aftermath of such an unthinkable tragedy to look
around for someone to blame. And it's natural for parents to want to
build safe cocoons for their college kids so they won't have to worry
about them. 
But folks, I think the problem this tragedy highlights isn't campus
security - it's campus suicide. If anything positive is to come from the
events at Virginia Tech, it will be that our leaders finally commit to
providing adequate mental health resources - on campuses and in
communities.
"I kept having to tell myself there is no way we could have known this
was coming," a classmate of Cho's told reporters Tuesday. "We saw all
the signs, but never thought this could happen."
Studies show that 90 percent of young people who commit suicide suffer
from depression or some other mental illness, though most don't seek
treatment. But usually, there are warning signs, cries for help.
Sometimes the signs are ignored. Often, worried friends and family
members see the signs but can't find affordable treatment in time. 
Melanie Hale sees the problem every day. A counselor at Foothill
College, she meets with dozens of students each month who are suffering
from depression, anxiety and other problems that are on the rise at
American colleges and universities. Lately she's been concerned about
the number of students who are addicted to violent video games. 
"They spend hours online, they fall behind in their classwork and
suffer from sleep deprivation."
Sometimes students with problems seek her out. Others are referred by
professors, parents or friends who are disturbed by a student's e-mails,
compositions or conversations. 
But her office can offer students only a few counseling sessions. She
can't prescribe drugs or provide intensive therapy.
"We have to have places to refer them to," she said. "But so many
services are drying up."
Suicide is preventable, but long-term treatment is expensive. Most
medical insurance doesn't cover it. And in our area, it's going to get
worse. As part of a massive cost-cutting plan, Santa Clara County is
proposing to cut mental health services to 8,000 people - including
nearly 800 children and adolescents. The North County facility in Palo
Alto, which is closest to Foothill, would close. 
If that happens, where will troubled students get help - before they
become desperate? 
"We have to maintain our mental health services in the community," Hale
said. "And they have to be accessible to students."
Otherwise, even if we turn our campuses into fortresses, our students
will be increasingly at risk.
Contact Patty Fisher at pfisher at mercurynews.com or call (650) 688-7510.
 Thomas E. Ellis, Psy.D., ABPPProfessor of PsychologyMarshall
UniversityHuntington, WV 25755(304) 696-2776ellist at marshall.edu 
****************************************************************************
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****************************************************************************

Donna G. Noonan, MPH, CHES
Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator
Injury Prevention & Epidemiology Program
Oregon Public Health Division
800 NE Oregon, Ste 772
Portland, OR 97232
NEW PHONE NO.:  Phone: 971-673-1023 
NEW FAX NO. Fax 971-673-0990
donna.noonan at state.or.us
http://oregon.gov/dhs/ph/ipe/ysp/index.shtml
Join YSPNetwork, Youth Suicide Prevention listserv for the Pacific
Northwest at
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