Some of the United States’ largest universities failed to report student suicide statistics, a recent investigation by The Associated Press found. Even when colleges did track student suicides, there were inconsistencies in the data they provided.

The investigation studied the nation’s 100 largest public colleges and universities and discovered that only 46 schools currently track student suicides.

The Clery Act, enforced by the United States Department of Education, requires universities to report crimes on campus. But gaps in data appear as institutions struggle to decide when to include a suicide in their report, a determination complicated when suicides do not occur on campus.

“We might be able to see trends. If it is certain subpopulations, marginalized groups, students associated with certain academic departments or athletic teams or other subcommittees in the university, that may then indicate an area that needs attention or some targeted outreach,” said Lee Swain, director of JED Campus, a mental health organization that focuses on college issues.

Concerns over mental health have correlated with an increase in college students seeking treatment since the 1990s, according to the American Psychological Association.

Medical professionals, though, said there’s a caveat when publicizing the causes of death in explicit detail, which may have other implications associated with the contagion effect, a process prompting more suicides through glorification.

Research shows that suicide rates can increase when vulnerable people view reports and data that detail suicides, said Elaine de Mello, training and education service manager of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“The flip side is true, which is if you put out messaging that instead of focusing on how many people die, you focus on how many people are getting help, where and how they’re getting help — that actually increases the likelihood that people … will try to seek help,” de Mello said.

Collecting data helps institutions gauge preventative measures and responses, de Mello said, but there are other factors universities must consider to respond appropriately. In an effort to prompt future conversations and solutions, some professionals are turning to the AP investigation.

“I think that we have to be courageous as colleges. We have to be courageous in our honesty about what is really happening in our campuses and sometimes that means that we’re going to have uncomfortable conversations,” said Lisa Adams, president of the American College Counseling Association.

Adams said she supports universities tracking data on student suicides, but the reports should not contain much detail so they do not prompt other students to also commit suicide. She said the only way to address an issue is to admit there is one.

“We need to do better and we can do better and we will do better,” Adams said.

Published on February 13, 2018 at 7:55 pm

Contact Carolina: crespina@syr.edu