The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 11, 1989, Page 6, Image 6
Most stude
By DENI SWIFT
Staff writer
Nearly every student at USC has contemplated suicide,
according to a recent campus survey.
The survey, conducted by Ron Maris, professor of
sociology, and Jim McMahon, assistant vice president for
student affairs, was an effort to determine if certain
characteristics true of suicidal individuals were evident at
USC, McMahon said.
"I was surprised at how many people thought about
it," Maris said.
Out of the 1,165 questionnaires sent out to randomly
selected students in both graduate and undergraduate
studies, about half were returned. The survey showed that
nearly half of the students who responded said they had
contemplated suicide. Maris said the statistical interpreta
nun ui mai uaia means aimosi every siuaent at UbC nas
contemplated it.
McMahon said the problem is serious and reflects the
national increase of completed suicides.
Other studies have shown suicide to be the second
leading cause of death and the leading cause of unnecessary
death among college students in the nation.
Maris, who runs the University Suicide Center in Calcott,
said he wanted to see how bad the problem was at USC.
"It wasn't really a problem until last year when a
graduate student killed himself in his car on campus,"
said Maris, referring to one of three suicides that took
place at USC. "Now nationally we're hearing about campus
suicide more, so campuses are starting to do studies to
look at the problem."
In the survey, Maris and McMahon also looked at the
possibility of other characteristics being associated with
suicide. They also wanted to know how informed students
were about groups on campus and in the community that
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nts consider
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suicide, su
nored that percentage of the student population.
Although there is no good data on why people commit
suicide, Maris said suicide could be caused by anything
from an individual problem to the state of the world.
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irvey says
Some of the variables included in the survey are chronic
illness, the status of the family unit and the knowledge of
another suicide victim. McMahon said suicide is usually
due to more than one factor and treating just one factor
may not be enough.
In addition to the increasing population of young people,
Maris said media coverage is an important factor
regarding suicide.
"Media coverage is very powerful," Maris said.
"Young people show their response to suicide by committing
suicide. The media coverage has a contagious effect.
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pie are less prone to."
McMahon said people don't really want to commit
suicide, but send out signals. Some red flags he said to
look for include giving away prized possessions as a
means of saying goodbye and the withdrawal or lack of
interpersonal skills.
Other sudden changes include drastic mood swings ?
the more extreme, the greater should be the concern ?
and the start of casual references to suicide such as,
? "Don't-worry, I won't be around much longer anyway."
No matter what the signal is, McMahon said to treat it
seriously. Ignoring any signal could reinforce a person's
belief that no one cares about them.
"One thing I want students to remember is that it's not
hopeless. There is help, so don't do anything irrevocable,"
McMahon said.
For anyone considering suicide or who knows of someone
that is, USC has a number of facilities on campus
to help. Some of these include the Counseling and Human
Development Center in theB A. building, the University
Suicide Center in Calcott and the Health Center. Also,
any resident adviser or university chaplain may be able to
help.
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