Inside Clemson

Learn how to get help for students contemplating suicide at Sept. 27 workshop

Learn what you can do to help someone who is at risk of dying by suicide at a workshop presented by Healthy Campus.

“Tigers Together to Stop Suicide Advocacy Training” is a 90-minute session that will enhance your knowledge, awareness and skills concerning college student suicide. It will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, in room 416 of R.M. Cooper Library and includes lunch. More information can be found here. RSVP to kbussel@clemson.edu.

The trainers will emphasize the development of empathic listening skills, communication skills and the capacity to compassionately and directly ask students about suicidal thoughts. Essentially, the workshop will equip you with the knowledge and skills to help someone at risk by asking about suicide and then connecting the student with resources.

Suicide ideation and completion is specifically prevalent among college students; the Suicide Prevention Resource Center found that 7.1 to 7.7 percent of students nationwide reported contemplating suicide over a 12-month span in 2012. Here at Clemson University, approximately 6.6 percent of students had considered suicide as of 2016, according to the latest National College Health Assessment II. Suicide completion is also widespread among young people; the CDC ranked suicide as the second leading cause of death for those between 15 and 24 years old.

The good news is that suicide can be prevented. Like many public health concerns, suicide has certain warning signs that can be observed by others. Typical red flags include:

  • Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live;
  • Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain;
  • Withdrawing or feeling isolated;
  • Acting anxious or agitated; and
  • Displaying extreme mood swings.

However, simply knowing the warning signs isn’t much help if you don’t know how to actually interact with and help the person displaying them. Suicide is a sensitive and often daunting topic to publicly discuss, and even more so with the person at risk.