In February 2013, 10 administrators, faculty members and advisors gathered to discuss forming a stand-alone suicide intervention program. The effort, coordinated by Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson, set out to create a program that encompassed suicide prevention training, increased community outreach from the Counseling and Human Development Department and developing a website where students, parents and faculty could go to get more information on suicide prevention.
One year into the initiative, 25 students gathered in Cutter-Shabazz Hall to participate in a suicide prevention gatekeeper training, sponsored by mental health umbrella organization Dartmouth Cares and Active Minds.
The training, conducted by Dartmouth counselors with many members of the Active Minds organization participating, is a part of a larger effort by Dartmouth Cares to eventually train every member of the Dartmouth community in suicide prevention practices.
An experiential and interactive program, the training aims to enhance students’ crisis communication skills, knowledge and awareness of suicide warning signs and protective factors and campus resources, according to a campus-wide email. During the session, students practiced recognizing early signs and appropriately addressing the situation.
“With this training they will know what type of questions to ask, how to be a helper and connect and provide the resources that they need,” said Arlene Velez-Galan, a counselor in Counseling and Human Development.
Dartmouth Cares seeks to connect various campus groups that organize around issues of suicide prevention and mental health.
The Dartmouth Cares website is expected to launch within the next few months, said Counseling and Human Development director Heather Earle. Plans for a smartphone app are also underway.
Active Minds, a national nonprofit that empowers students to speak openly about mental health, seeks to change conversations about mental health on college campuses specifically, said Anna Franklin ’14, co-president of Dartmouth’s Active Minds chapter.
At Dartmouth, Active Minds members work to educate the student body about issues related to mental health through films, speakers, student panels and collaborating with other campus organizations, Franklin said.
Tuesday’s training was not the first of its kind. Over the past year, all community directors, staff in the Undergraduate Deans Office and most undergraduate advisors have been trained. There are also plans in to train athletic staff, Velez-Galan said.
Suicide is believed to be the second leading cause of death among college students, and nearly 80 percent of college students that commit suicide have never received counseling, according to a 2009 article in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Dartmouth Cares was prompted to train students by data that showed that students are more willing to come to peers with their problems before they approach adults, Velez-Galan said.
Research suggests that students who report feeling suicidal will also report feeling marginalized, feeling like a burden or feeling like they cannot find their niche, Earle said.
“That’s why it’s really important for all campus to be involved, because, for example, residential life plays a huge part in students feeling connected to each other,” she said.
Earle said that sports teams, residential life and outdoor activities all contribute to suicide prevention.
“I think it is a part of suicide prevention to make sure students are feeling wanted and connected to another human being or a group of others,” she said.
The University of Pennsylvania has increased its efforts to address mental health issues and suicide prevention on campus after two students committed suicide at the beginning of the semester.
Last Wednesday, Penn announced a new Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare to design programs and policies that will improve the quality of student life, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported.
Dartmouth Cares will continue its outreach and training in the spring. In April, the group plans on hosting a mental health fair that will coincide with national depression screening day, potentially including therapy dogs.
“I think there’s a general trend toward talking about these issues more instead of hiding them under the rug,” Franklin said. “But I think there’s always room for improvement.”
