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Printer-Friendly ModeNursing students continue suicide awareness efforts
April 4, 2005 —
Following up on a suicide awareness program last semester, eight students from the College of Nursing put on a suicide workshop Monday, March 28 focused on the SVSU campus.
The students held presented "The Silent Cry," a twenty-minute production featuring two skits; one depicting the signs of someone who is depressed and one showing a re-enacted scenario of someone who was contemplating suicide.
The students decided to focus on the campus after nursing students last semester focused on the community and hosted the annual National Survivors of Suicide Conference for the first time locally.
During the production the actors asked the audience questions as to what action should be taken and rewarded the responders with prizes ranging from shirts to free slurpee coupons from 7-Eleven.
The nursing students decided to present the workshop as a play so they could keep the audience interested and still present valuable information. Two of the nursing students were enrolled in theater classes, and by the suggestion of Tony Thomson, director of Student Counseling Services, they decided to present the workshop on a weekday evening - the students decided on 10 pm - instead of an all-day weekend event.
"Ten is a good time to get people from the dorms," said senior nursing student Melissa Halaby. "Their classes are ending and we wanted to stay away from the bar nights [Thursday through Saturday] so we'd get a good turnout."
Every semester, the nursing students divide into groups and each group study an issue as part of their Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) program. With SVSU students as their community, they used community resources and looked at the strengths of the availability of services offered to students dealing with or contemplating suicide.
The students credited Thomson and the Student Counseling Center with helping them determine what direction they wanted to take to differ from last semester's group. Because there was so much information available and the students from last semester felt so impacted by the effects of suicide, they decided to continue promoting awareness regarding the issue as their project.
At the workshop, information on places to call for help and information regarding facts on suicide and recognizing signs of depression were distributed. Instead of focusing on suicide facts, the students focused on prevention and recognizing signs displayed by a close one in the campus setting. The nursing students felt it was important for students to know what to be aware of when dealing with someone they think is depressed.
"We put such emphasis on treating the depressed, but we also need to make the community more aware of the signs and risks of depression," said Alicen Davis, also a senior nursing student. "A lot of depressed people don't want people to know they're depressed. That's where the community comes in."
On campus, students have the Student Counseling Center when they need to seek help. Besides the office, the Center also has links and screenings online at www.svsu.edu/counseling for students to look up. Thomson wants to increase the amount of workshops and seminars related to mental health issues.
"It has always been a goal of the student counseling center to de-stigmatize mental health issues," Thomson said. "We want students to recognize that their mental health is every bit as important as their physical health. And when we can get students out carrying that message, it's a bonus."
Thomson said the workshop put on by students was a good way to increase peer networking, which is what the counseling center encourages.
"We love to endorse student-initiated student focus groups," Thomson said. "We like to support the concept of students helping students."
The Student Counseling Center also provides prevention education and awareness for campus students. Besides offering counseling services, they also sponsor speakers and programs that help students with various issues, mostly dealing with alcohol and drugs, mental health and community referrals.
On Tuesday, Jenni Schaefer will come to campus and speak about her eating disorder in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall at 7 pm and Dr. William Steele will speak at a different presentation to discuss dealing with grief in the Multi-purpose Room at 11:30 am.
If you are having thoughts of suicide or know someone who is considering it, call 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433), talk to your Resident Assistant if you live on campus, or stop by the Student Counseling Center for help.