Suicide an ever prevalent issue on college campuses - Daily Illini

September is National Suicide Awareness Month. And yesterday, Sept. 10, was World Suicide Prevention Day. Funny how the biggest issues in life have “months” and “days” dedicated to them. For those affected by suicide, not a day or a month goes by without a sense of awareness.

This is not just going to be a light-and-fluffy column about how “it’s all going to be OK.” â€" even though it will be. Let’s have an honest conversation about how the act of killing oneself affects our campus, as well as Western society.

I am not writing this from the platform of a doctor or even as a journalist. I write to you as a fellow student, citizen and human being who knows what it’s like to lose someone, as well as what it’s like to be a supporter of multiple people in recovery.

While depression is an illness, suicide is not a science â€" not really. It’s just a word to illustrate a simple act. I say it’s time we stopped fearing this word and started overcoming the illness that drives the act.

We don’t like to talk about death â€" we never have. We romanticize it through vampires, we glorify it through war, we rationalize it through faith and we even satirize it on SNL and YouTube. And I’m fine with all of that because everyone copes with death differently. What I’m not okay with is pretending that depression “is just in your head,” or the phrase “suicide is not the answer.” To the person considering suicide, it probably sounds like a good answer to a complicated question. Let’s take a step back from life’s proverbial multiple-choice test and look at the test taker.

The notion of being an “adult” is an interesting one in this country. Legally, one reaches adulthood at the age of 18. By this standard, nearly all college students are, at least in a court of law, adults. So when is it appropriate to confront an adult about an issue like depression or suicide? One does not need to be depressed to commit suicide, but the two often go hand-in-hand.

I remember vividly the phone call I made to my mother when I realized that more than half my social circle was on some form of anti-depressant, prescribed to deter any suicidal tendencies.

“Everyone I know wants to die, Mom â€" everyone.”

It was a rough awakening for me, but one that I don’t regret or attempt to forget. I learned a great deal about the fragility of life during my first year at the University. I knew that where I found myself was serious, and I soon found out that I was not alone. Indeed, we are all surrounded by the issue of suicide.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 1,100 college students killed themselves last year and it has been reported that men are twice as likely to commit suicide than women. A study conducted at the University of Virginia found suicide, not alcoholic incidents, to be the number one cause of death for college students studying at four-year institutions. Why is this? No one really knows why so many college-age people have suicidal tendencies, just like no one knows exactly what drives human beings to take their own lives.

Yes, there is psychological counseling, and I believe that can be very valuable. There are prescriptions to medications that may just deter the dark cloud so many anti-depressant commercials use to personify human hurt. But there is also something else that may be just as powerful as a pill or a psychologist.

For this, I call upon The Beatles. To save someone’s life, maybe “Love is All You Need.” It’s corny to find a message in pop songs, I know. But I’ve watched what this illness can do to people. Feeling wanted, needed even, and unconditionally appreciated is, in my experience, the best way to bring someone back or deter him or her completely. Too often in our culture, we hesitate to give a hug or show intimate signs of affection. Too often do we realize that we should have.
If you know or think you know someone who is struggling, love them. And if you are that someone, know that you are loved.

Renée is a senior in Media. She can be reached at opinions@dailyillini.com.