Criticized for having one of the highest collegiate suicide rates in the country, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has forged ahead with an aggressive campaign to review its mental health policy and cope with the growing national trend of young adult suicide.
At MIT, 11 students have committed suicide since 1990, 10 of them undergraduates. With an undergraduate population of 4,400, that figure puts the MIT suicide rate among the highest in the country, or about twice the national average for college-aged students.
Most recently, MIT has come under attack from the parents of suicide victim Elizabeth Shin, a sophomore who set herself on fire two years ago following romantic and academic troubles. On Friday they announced plans to sue MIT for neglecting their daughter's health and not alerting them to her problems.
MIT has denied responsibility for Shin's death and will fight the claim.
But recognizing a heightened demand for mental health care, MIT's Chancellor, Undergraduate Association and Mental Health Service departments created a mental health task force in November to extensively research the current help available and recommend improvements.
The task force -- composed of doctors, administrators, professors, undergraduates, graduates and other members of the MIT community -- conducted a random survey of students, focusing on the increased use of the university's mental health care facilities.
Seventy-four percent of students who responded to the survey had encountered an emotional problem that interfered with their daily activities, but only 28 percent of them had used the campus mental health service.
Two-thirds of those who sought MIT counseling rated their care as satisfactory to excellent, but 35 percent of respondents reported waiting ten days or more for an initial appointment, and only half said they would recommend the center to friends.
The task force also discovered a dramatic spike in demand for mental health service, both at MIT and at universities across the nation.
At MIT alone, about 50 percent more students sought help in 2000 than in 1995. Because the size of the MIT mental health service remained the same, the task force immediately recommended increasing the staff and offering evening office hours. Moreover, students were not always aware of the campus resources and had to go out of their way to seek help.
As a result, task force recommendations include a comprehensive three-to-five year social marketing campaign to ensure students feel comfortable asking for counseling, as well as a second mental health outreach and education program to raise awareness.
"The student reaction that we got was remarkably positive from every direction. People were happy that this issue was finally being addressed," said Efrat Shavit '02, one of the chairs of the task force. "Having student leadership involved in upper levels really gave the students confidence in the recommendations and that their needs and concerns were being addressed."
Shavit emphasized that MIT's mental health services had not been bad before the creation of the task force; the university had realized, however, that there was room for growth and improvement.
Shavit's co-chair, Dr. Kristine Girard, associate chief of mental health in the MIT medical department, also praised the work of the task force and defended the university against media scrutiny and criticisms that MIT has a staggering suicide rate.
"If you look at the student body, the suicide rate is not out of keeping with other universities. It's about one per year per 10,000 students, which is not out of keeping for the age range," Girard said, referring to MIT's combined undergraduate and graduate populations.
Girard cited a number of reasons why mental health problems and suicide attempts have risen at universities. She explained that whereas students with mental health problems may not have been able to attend college in the past, many are now matriculating with the help of medical treatment. However, once at college, students are susceptible to falling out of or discontinuing treatment.
"It's a national trend; it's not unique to MIT," she said. "There are more students who are asking for treatment, but also there's a higher level of the intensity of the care that the students are requiring now."
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that the suicide rate in young people has increased dramatically over the last several decades, with over 90 percent of suicide victims experiencing a serious psychiatric illness at the time of their death.
One junior at MIT, who wished to remain anonymous, reflected on the suicides that had occurred during his first two years at MIT.
"We all understood what type of pressure that the people felt, although most of us didn't understand how they let the pressure get to them. Maybe we were lucky that we had the friends and support networks that we had, and if we had been less social or more closed emotionally, it could happen to us," he said.
"I wouldn't say that suicide is accepted, but I also wouldn't say that it surprises us anymore. It just comes with the territory," he told The Dartmouth. "We are one of the hardest schools in the country, we are all stressed out, some people just aren't going to be able to deal with that pressure."
Having visited the MIT mental health service himself to cope with stress, the student said the center was helpful but sorely understaffed, and that he had a long wait for an appointment.
"Now that the mental health task force has come into order, there are more posters around campus, and more people are talking about it, which is very important to the task force. If nobody knows about it, it will not do any good to the overall student community," he said.
Shavit said colleges need to start facing up to the reality of student depression.
"It's time that this bubble of secrecy be burst. Universities have swept these problems under the rug for decades, and it's time for them to follow in MIT's footsteps, to take the cue and address these issues," Shavit said. "If we have 100 universities addressing this, instead of one or two, we're going to find solutions quicker. It's time, and I think other people are starting to realize that."