Foundation Publishes Suicide Help Manual for Universities

After the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech in April of last year, colleges and universities around the country responded by increasing their focus on student violence prevention programs, like Harvard’s new “Message Me” emergency alert system.

The Jed Foundation, a non-profit suicide prevention group, is trying to ensure that other kinds of student violence—suicide and self-injury—get equal or greater attention on campuses nationwide.

The foundation released a manual last week designed to help colleges and universities deal with student emotional distress.

With the self-described goal of providing campus workers a rundown of applicable laws, guidelines, and recommendations, the manual serves “to support well-informed decision-making around students at risk.”

Courtney Knowles, the Jed Foundation’s executive director, said that the foundation’s research reveals “a lot of misunderstanding or confusion over legal issues,” specifically regarding a school’s liability in the event that a student commits suicide on campus.

Knowles said he hopes that the guide will clarify these legal issues, which he said may be preventing schools from making comprehensive changes to their mental health programs.

Richard D. Kadison, the chief of mental health at Harvard University Health Services, said yesterday that he is familiar with the work of the Jed Foundation, and echoed the organization’s emphasis on holistic treatment of student distress issues to prevent suicide and student violence.

He said that Harvard looks at each case individually—especially suicide cases, which can involve a wide range of circumstances—and that the University has also taken steps to normalize mental health disorders and reduce the stigma surrounding them on campus.

“Usually, the last person many students want to talk to is a psychiatrist,” Kadison said, adding that Mental Health Services often refers students instead to the Harvard Chaplains or the Bureau of Study Council, where they may feel more comfortable discussing many of their concerns.

While such efforts by Mental Health Services may “help get students in the door,” Kadison said, he cautioned that there is always more they could do.

“We are always a work in progress, and we try to adjust in response to feedback from the students,” he said.