Lipscomb counseling center offers resources in light of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Lacey Klotz  | 

The college experience is not always smooth sailing for every student, and in light of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Lipscomb University’s Counseling Center is available to help students learn to adapt, cope and thrive as they face the challenges of a college education and young adulthood.

Lipscomb’s Counseling Center offers a myriad of resources including licensed professionals available to help, listen and support students; Question Persuade Refer (QPR) trainings, a one training that equips individuals with basic skills and insights needed to guide a struggling individual to a better end; an on-campus mental health awareness group called “You’re Not Alone;” the Behavioral Intervention Team; and more. For more information, visit www.lipscomb.edu/counselingcenter.

According to the most recent health assessment by the American College Health Association in 2014, anytime in the past 12 months:

  • - 63.9 percent of college students felt very sad;
  • - 34.5 percent felt so depressed that it was difficult to function; and
  • - 85.6 perfect felt overwhelmed by all they had to do.

The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health also revealed that:

  • - 7.5 percent (639,000) college students had serious thoughts of suicide;
  • - 2.1 percent (185,000) made suicide plans; and
  • - 1.0 percent (85,000) attempted suicide in the past year.

Andrea Mills, assistant director of the University Counseling Center, says suicide is the most preventable cause of death and once people know the signs and overcome their fear of having conversations about suicide with friends and family, they will become effective emotional lifeguards.

“A common myth is that a concerned person will cause a non-suicidal individual to begin thinking about suicide if they bring it up. However, research has told us the opposite is true,” said Mills. “If a person is thinking about suicide they are often relieved to have someone bring up the subject. It gives them permission to speak about a topic that is often taboo in our society.”

Warning signs the Lipscomb community can look for individuals:

  • - Talking about wanting to die
  • - Looking for a way to kill oneself
  • - Talking about feeling hopelessness or having no purpose
  • - Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
  • - Talking about being a burden to others
  • - Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs
  • - Acting anxious, agitated or recklessly
  • - Sleeping too little or too much
  • - Withdrawing or feeling isolated
  • - Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
  • - Displaying extreme mood swings

What to do if someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide:

  • - Talk to your dorm RA who has been trained in suicide prevention
  • - Contact the Behavioral Intervention Team
  • - Contact the Counseling Center at 615.966.1781.
  • - Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255)
  • - Take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical health profession

In 2015, the University Counseling Center was awarded a $228,000 Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant, a federal grant awarded to 22 universities across the nation by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The grant, matched with university funds, allowed counseling staff to focus more on prevention programs and freed up institutional funds to hire two new on-campus counselors to see students.

Thanks to this grant, the center now conducts a nationally used suicide prevention education program, QPR trainings, for all incoming freshmen, athletic coaches and resident assistants in student housing each year.

The grant also allows the opportunity for Lipscomb to offer a special suicide training called Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) to all graduate level Clinical Mental Health Counseling students. The training is published by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and Lipscomb is only one of three universities in the nation to require this of their mental health field graduate students. As a result, our counseling program graduates will be better trained to handle suicidal risk upon graduation.

“We find that suicidal thoughts have occurred in around 20 percent of students at some point in their lives, and that is most likely underestimating,” said Mills. “Not all of these students have made plans or attempted, but the thought has certainly crossed their mind when feeling overwhelmed. However, we know there is a better way to help the pain end other than suicide. If you let a loved one know that you also want the pain to end, they will see you understand them and the situation they are in.”

Mills says statistics show that suicide is the second-leading cause of death in the college age demographic, and as a community, it is our responsibility to recognize these warning signs and use the resources available to prevent suicide attempts.

“Individuals having thoughts of suicide often do not see a way out. It is like they are living with blinders on,” she said. “We are called to show them hope and that they are not alone in this fight.”

Resources available to the Lipscomb community:

  • - The University Counseling Center
  • - On campus Mental Health Awareness group “You’re Not Alone”
  • - Lipscomb’s Behavioral Intervention Team
  • - Apps such as “A Friend Asks”
  • - Mobile Crisis Unit 855-CRISIS-1 for access to a local counselor in Tennessee National Suicide Prevention Line 1-800-273-TALK    (8255) Crisis Text Line: TEXT “Start” to 741-741
  • - Reportingonsuicide.org
  • - qprinstitute.com
  • afsp.org

In honor of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Lipscomb is having a one-time art display come to campus, on Friday, Sept. 16 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each year, Your Heart on Art has a traveling display, and this year, individuals touched by suicide in some ways have decorated white canvas tennis shoes.

For more information visit: http://www.lipscomb.edu/counselingcenter or call at 615.966.1781.

- Additional reporting by Janel Shoun-Smith