Role of universities in preventing students’ suicide ideation (Part 1)

Recently I came across an article by Shek & Wong (2011) which discussed the need for holistic development in university students.  There are three things that caught my attention when I reflect on my experiences.  They are (1) Impact of depression on suicidal ideations, (2) the high similarities of characteristics between US and HK college students and (3) the need for university involvement.

Impact of depression on suicidal ideations

The authors reported that besides psychosocial stressors (e.g. examinations and financial stresses), mental health is a growing concern among university students.  Depression is the leading instigator to a variety of negative outcomes contributing to the bulk of suicides on college campuses.  A web-based survey of 2,843 Midwestern undergraduates found a prevalence rate of 15.6% for depressive or anxiety disorder.  Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students in the US after homicides and accidents.  According to the Big Ten College Study, the death rate of suicide among college students is at an astonishing high rate of 7.5/100,000!  This data indeed supported the research I mentioned in my post dated 13 Dec about the mediation effect of depression to academic stress and suicidal ideations.  Whilst I do not have the Hong Kong statistics, the university which I am acquainted with does have a high suicidal rate, and I understand all of them had prior history of depression or anxiety.

 

The “dark side” of college students” (Shek & Wong, 2011)

I am truly amazed to find out what was described as the dark side for US students can be found in my HK students through the self-reflections logs they handed in as their assignments.  The Me Generations are not empathetic with rising narcissistic personalities especially in business students.  They are more self-interested than team-oriented.  In addition, many students are often not prepared to be young adults with all the responsibilities.  Moreover, there is a significant shift in college students’ values to a more self-focused and financially oriented philosophy, which is in line with a decrease in social responsibility and civic participation.  It was reported that the top two students’ goals were to be financially well-off (78.1) and raising a family (74.7%). 

 

What does this mean?  I believe the focus on extrinsic needs adds onto the stress and anxiety that an undergraduate face, especially so for Asian societies like HK which tends to evaluate a person’s success measured by career achievements and how much people earn.  This is worsened by the fact, as reported in the article that these students are not prepared to take on responsibilities.  I feel the level of anxiety or stress tolerance is lower than that of the Gen X (I know because I am one of them).  What causes this?  My educated guess is that these students used to enjoy parents’ warmth and protectiveness up to their high school years; but when they are at the university, they are derived from such parental type of warmth and protectiveness, coupled with their lack of willingness or capability to take on responsibilities as a young adult, they become stressed, feel high level of anxiety and even depressed.  A research mentioned in my previous post proposed that parenting warmth and protectiveness decreases level of depression.  Does it mean university educators need to take on the role of parenting to provide such warmth and protectiveness?  How should universities respond?  This is what I will discuss in my next post.

 

Reference

Shek, D.T.L and Wong, K.K. (2011).  Do adolescent developmental issues disappear overnight?  Reflections about holistic development in university students.  The ScientificWorld Journal, 11, 353-361. Doi:10.1100/tsw.2011.5