UHS Psychiatrist Says High Goals Trigger Suicides

A psychiatrist from the University Health Services said last night at a student forum in the University Lutheran Church that depression and suicide at Harvard are often caused by a "distorted sense of importance and lack of communal experience."

Dr. James Gill, associate psychiatrist to UHS, said that the overriding factor causing depression at Harvard is that most students at Harvard "expect to do as well at Harvard as they did in high school," and many find that they are not able to compete in such a "uniquely talented and capable milieu."

Gill denied, however, that Harvard students are more prone to depression than those at any other institution.

"Depression usually involves people who feel hopeless, helpless and worthless," Gill said. He stressed four factors as being crucial to suicide early life losses, a family history of suicides, pressure from successful parents, and narrow pre-professional goals.