{"id":983,"date":"2017-04-13T13:33:42","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T19:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/?p=983"},"modified":"2019-09-10T17:41:48","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T23:41:48","slug":"sip-5-12-what-to-do-when-students-talk-to-you-about-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/sip-5-12-what-to-do-when-students-talk-to-you-about-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"SIP 5.12 What To Do When Students Talk To You About Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">College can be stressful time for many students. Most students at the college level are in the process of developing careers, relationships, life goals and their own individual identities. Nontraditional students are often juggling family and work demands in addition to their course work. In the college community, about 10 percent of the students may be distressed by depression, acute anxiety, drug or alcohol abuse, or more serious conditions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/108\/2017\/04\/suicide-prevention.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"205\" \/>Faculty and staff are often the first to recognize that a student may not be functioning well emotionally. Students may turn to you because of your position and the respect they hold for you as a faculty or staff member. Faculty members and staff are in a good position to spot an emotionally troubled student. You may observe that at certain times of the year, particularly during examinations and holidays, students experience increased anxiety and depression and may discuss thoughts about suicide with you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Take a SIP of This: What to Do When Students Talk to You about Suicide<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/violenceprevention\/pdf\/suicide-datasheet-a.pdf\">According to the CDC<\/a><\/span>, there were 41,149 suicides in 2013 in the United States&#8211; this is equal to 113 suicides each day or one every 13 minutes. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. Individuals who contemplate suicide are not crazy or unstable. Most are experiencing extreme depression and\/or stress and may think of suicide as a means of escape from pain. Some students are reticent to reach out for help with this struggle, while others may voluntarily share their thoughts of possible self-harm. By reaching out and communicating with someone about suicide, they are in essence looking for a way to communicate their feelings. Any opportunity to do so should be encouraged.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Do:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Express your concern in non-judgmental terms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Listen to the student and repeat the main point of what the student is saying.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Respect the student\u2019s value system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Ask if the student is considering suicide.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Take the student seriously. 80 percent of suicides give warning of their intent. Acknowledge that a threat of or attempt at suicide is a plea for help.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Contact the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/msudenver.edu\/counsel\/home\/\">MSU Denver Counseling Center<\/a><\/span> as soon as possible, preferably while the student is with you so that you can make sure the student gets the help they need. If necessary, walk the student to the Counseling Center to make sure they arrive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">If you believe a student is in immediate danger to themselves or others, call campus police.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">For students who are struggling with difficult life circumstances, file a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/msudenver.edu\/care\/makeacarereport\/\">CARE report<\/a><\/span>. However, be aware that these reports are only monitored during business hours.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Don&#8217;t:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Minimize the situation or depth of feeling, e.g., &#8220;Oh it will be much better tomorrow.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Be afraid to ask the person if they are so depressed or sad that they want to hurt themselves (e.g., &#8220;You seem so upset and discouraged that I&#8217;m wondering if you are considering suicide.&#8221;). Some students may not actually explicitly mention suicide, but instead discuss feelings of depression and hopelessness.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Promise confidentiality. A life is at stake and you may need to speak to a mental health professional in order to keep the suicidal person safe.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Over-commit yourself and, therefore, not be able to deliver on what you promise.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Ignore your limitations. We often have an urge to protect our students, but we must keep in mind that we are not their parents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Suicide is rarely a spur of the moment decision. In the days and hours before people kill themselves, there are usually clues and warning signs. Some warnings sign to look out for in your classroom:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Significant grade problems or a significant shift in grades.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Change in attendance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Change in pattern of social interaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Marked change in mood.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Marked change in physical appearance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Repeated request for special consideration.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">New or regularly occurring behavior which pushes the limits and may interfere with class management.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Unusual or exaggerated emotional response.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Still Thirsty? Take Another SIP of What to Do When Students Talk to You about Suicide<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/msudenver.edu\/counsel\/\">MSU Denver Counseling Center<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/suicideprevention.nv.gov\/Youth\/Myths\/\">Myths about Suicide<\/a> <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/suicideprevention.nv.gov\/Youth\/Warning_Signs\/\">Suicide Warning Signs<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.health.umd.edu\/cstudentwarningsigns\">More on warning signs<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"\/\/caps.ucsc.edu\/responding-to-distressed-students.html\">Responding to Distressed Students<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.suicidepreventioncolorado.org\/\">Suicide Prevention Resources in Colorado<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livingworks.net\/programs\/asist\/\">Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? College can be stressful time for many students. Most students at the college level are in the process of developing careers, relationships, life goals and their own individual identities. Nontraditional students are often juggling family and work demands in addition to their course work. In the college community, about &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/sip-5-12-what-to-do-when-students-talk-to-you-about-suicide\/\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[52,56,163,164,165,57],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sip-post","tag-communicating-with-students","tag-intervention","tag-suicide","tag-suicide-prevention","tag-talk","tag-wellbeing","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}