Wave of Suicides at Cornell University During Current School Year

Suicide rates at Cornell University are getting national attention right now. Cornell University has suffered six possible suicides during the current school year, leaving school officials unclear as to why this rash of suicides has taken place. According to CNN, three Cornell University students committed suicide in the fall 2009 semester, and now three additional Cornell University students are thought to have committed suicide in the past two months. CNN attained this information from Cornell University spokesman Simeon Moss, noting that Cornell is now on alert to look for signs of depression in any of their students for fear it might happen again.

None of the Cornell University suicides have been linked together, so it isn't assumed that this is a trend, but it could be a symptom of what is going on at the school or in the economy right now. Depression is frequently thought of as the biggest sign that someone is at risk, but there also doesn't need to be a symptom to reveal that someone is thinking about taking their own life. The single most important thing for people to realize is that there are many resources out there to help with depression, and that taking one's life is never the right answer to anything. Cornell has taking good steps to providing awareness, and in the midst of this tragic situation, should actually be commended for not trying to brush it under the rug.

The fact that six possible suicides have taken place at a single high-ranking university could quite possibly be nothing more than a huge coincidence. It has happened before at Cornell during the late 1990s though, so there is reason to worry that a student might see what has already happened and feel it is a solution to their problems. When two suicides occurred in 1994, it led to Cornell being called a "suicide school," even though it wasn't an abnormally large numbers in comparison to other schools. What needs to be taken away from the recent rash of suicides tied to Cornell is that there is definitely a problem, and that maybe resources for people suffering from depression or other suicidal thoughts need to be more prevalent.

References:

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