Suicide typically happens without warning. All suicidal people are depressed. Mental health professionals are the only people who can help a suicidal person.

These are common myths associated with suicide, and David Onestak, director of the Counseling Center, said understanding the truths and the warning signs about suicide can reduce the risk of the second leading cause of death among college students.

An average rate of 7.5 suicides for every 100,000 enrolled college students is generally accepted among universities throughout the nation, Onestak said.

This means a campus the size of Eastern will experience at least one suicide each academic year. Average statistics from the past three years support such data.

Four students committed suicide from 2000 to 2002, two during the spring 2000 semester and two during the fall 2002 semester.

Last semester, two Eastern students took their own lives. Todd Bruns, 21, was found dead outside his off-campus apartment Sept. 29, and 19-year-old Brian Ford, a Student Senate member, died Nov. 9. Both deaths were ruled suicides by hanging.

“Unfortunately, we’re catching up to our average this year,” Onestak said. “People that take their lives are typically not students we see at the Counseling Center. If they take the time to come here, the risk drops dramatically.”

Onestak and his staff counsel about 600 students every year, and interact with thousands more across campus with lectures, workshops, and other outreach programs.

Services at the Counseling Center are free, although students are typically limited to eight sessions per semester or 32 sessions over a student’s academic career.

The average number of sessions per student at the Counseling Center is three, Onestak said. If a student has needs beyond the center’s services, counseling limits can be extended, but the Counseling Center rarely refers students to advanced treatment facilities.

“There are times I feel we can move mountains, but sometimes we still can’t reach the students who are threats to themselves,” Onestak said.

About 10 percent of students have suicidal thoughts, he said, and many universities are taking larger measures to prevent students from taking their own lives.

Prevention programs

Other schools, such as the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, have set up programs to counter rising suicide rates.

The Suicide Prevention Team, a program U of I’s Counseling Center

started in 1984, requires students who make suicidal gestures or attempts to undergo four weeks of mandatory counseling sessions, said Paul Joffe, program chair.

Students who show signs of suicidal intent are reported to the program, and if they don’t cooperate with the Suicide Prevention Team, Joffe said they run the risk of withdrawal from the university.

Since the program began, 1,531 students have participated in the program, and none of them have committed suicide, Joffe said.

Illinois State University also has a hands-on approach to suicide prevention. David Rardin, ISU’s director of clinical services, said the university’s suicide rates fluctuate, but counselors have tactics set up in the event of an attempt.

“Anytime there’s an event where a student is identified as having a suicidal threat, and anytime a student ends up at the local ER for anything that looks like an attempt, we’re called,” Rardin said. “We assess what’s going on, and we determine what we should do next.”

Eastern improving its assistance

According to a National Mental Health Association checklist of things a university should have in place to safeguard students against suicide, Eastern is only lacking in a few areas, Onestak said.

The Counseling Center has a 24-hour crisis-intervention service, depression screenings and educational training sessions for residence assistants, but Onestak is developing a few more services.

A suicide section was recently added to the center’s Web site, and an anonymous screening program is in the works. Onestak also hopes to start a transitional support program to inform incoming freshman about the Counseling Center.

In addition to the Counseling Center’s programs, Eastern hosts a suicide conference every spring in memory of Tom Bonine Jr., a student who took his own life in the summer of 1998. The conference was started in 2000 by Bonine’s father, who wanted to give something back to Eastern for all of the support the university offered after his son’s death.

Onestak applauded the community and the administration for the assistance they offered after the recent suicides.

“I’ve been to five different universities, and Eastern is by far the best at dealing with these situations,” Onestak said. “This is a good place to be in the event of a suicide.”