UNCG's "Friends Helping Friends" bring awareness to World Suicide Prevention Day

Thursday, Sept. 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day, and UNCG's group Friends Helping Friends set up shop on campus in the EUC from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. to provide information, hand out pamphlets, answer questions and create awareness about suicide.

World Suicide Prevention Day began in 2003 to spread awareness about suicide across the globe. UNCG's program Friends Helping Friends is funded by a federal grant from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration last year, and set out this year to use a "multi-faceted approach to address suicide and mental health," says Assistant Director of UNCG Wellness Programs, Jeanne Irwin-Olsen.

Worldwide there are 3,000 completed suicides everyday says Irwin-Olsen, and for every completed suicide there are 20 failed attempts. Irwin-Olsen says it is important to raise awareness about suicide not only around the world, but to draw attention to suicide amongst college students as well. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, and it is estimated that over 1,000 college students die by suicide each year (National Mental Health Association & The Jed Foundation, 2002). The American Association of Suicidology estimated in 2004 that the rate of attempted suicide among youth is somewhere between 100 and 200 for every completed suicide.

The American College Health Association in 2006 estimated that 40 percent of college students reported having difficulties functioning as a result of feeling depressive related symptoms within the past 12 months, and that roughly 1in 10 college students reported having "seriously considered suicide" within the last 12 months. Friends Helping Friends has set out to address these problems and has high hopes for the future.

In their first year out on the job, Irwin-Olsen says Friends Helping Friends trained 179 Peer Academic Leaders in a suicide-awareness curriculum known as "Safe Talk." For the training, Friends Helping Friends partnered with the Mental Health Association of Greensboro. Also, the group has scheduled 26 presentations to be delivered to UNS classes in the fall, and there are students currently enrolled in the Mental Health Section of Peer Health Education, says Irwin-Olsen.

The program's mission is to empower students to "better understand mental health concerns" and to "effectively assist peers in gaining access to professional counseling services during times of distress" (http://www.uncg.edu/shs/fhf/). Irwin-Olsen says that the federal grant will cover the group's funding for 3 years, but they plan to incorporate "as much of the mental help outreach as possible" into the programming of the Counseling and Testing Center and Wellness Programs.

For more information on how to get involved with Friends Helping Friends, and to apply to become a Peer Educator in the spring, visit http://www.uncg.edu/shs/fhf/helper/peer_ed.php#apply.