When Tragedy Strikes: Suicide Postvention on a College Campus
By Sally Spencer-Thomas, Ph.D.
(Originally printed in the International Association for Suicide Prevention’s Postvention Taskforce Newsletter, September 2009, www.iasp.info).
In his rural high school, David had it all– valedictorian, president of his class, and a varsity starter for the basketball team. When a good friend and teammate of his took his life, David’s world assumptions were shattered, and he found himself spending much of his summer drinking with the other members of the team as they tried to cope with the loss. As college started in the fall, he moved to another state to attend a big urban college, and he left his friends behind. He struggled with his classes and felt very isolated and lonely despite being surrounded by lots of people. By mid-semester, he received a report card of failing grades and got a strong reprimand from his father who feared David would lose his scholarship. On the day before David was supposed to go home for the holidays, he hung himself in his dormitory bedroom.
Crisis and chaos ensued as emergency personnel removed his body from the room in front of dozens of hysterical on-lookers. A shrine of cards and flowers appeared the next day at the door of his room, as distraught students bid him farewell and headed home for the holidays. When students returned to campus the next month, the headline of the school paper displayed a front-page article with the headline, “Student Commits Suicide in Main Hall.” Because many students knew of the circumstances regarding David’s death, the school chose to vacate his room and turn it into a library. The campus was fearful that other students might mimic this act, so they chose not to publically acknowledge the death. Five years later, students coming to campus asked why in the midst of a housing shortage was one of the potential dormitory rooms an unneeded library; the trauma of David’s suicide continued.
The above story illustrates many of the challenges facing college campuses today as they try to simultaneously promote suicide prevention and prepare for the worst. In the United States, my campus (Regis University) is one of over 100 college campuses that have received federal funding from the Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Act to develop comprehensive suicide prevention programs. I have noticed that all of them are focused on prevention and intervention, but few have really addressed the concerns of postvention. Those of us in the field of suicide postvention know that it is a critical piece of the prevention picture. The purpose of this article is to raise questions and provide some answers on how our campuses might be better prepared to manage the crisis in the aftermath of a student suicide.
Crisis Communication
The general principles for crisis communication that exist for other types of campus community disasters apply to the response to a campus suicide. First, contact needs to be made with the family regarding their wishes for communication in the aftermath of a suicide. Some family members may not feel comfortable sharing the cause of death, and while universities should respectfully comply with the family’s desires, they should also counsel families that death certificates are public records and that by not being candid about the cause of death they may inadvertently cause complications for bereaved students and others. Second, a spokesperson needs to be identified to be the main point of communication for concerned campus members and their families as well as the media. This person needs to know as much about the situation as possible so he or she can communicate clearly and factually with the internal and external communities.
Factual briefs to the community (no more than one page) that state the basic information of who, when, where, and what happened (although reporting the specific means of death is not advised) and an information number to call can help the community get the information needed to dispel rumors that may encourage additional trauma. These informational briefs also can contain the information about memorial services and the family’s wishes (e.g., where letters can be sent, if a donation drive is being set up in the deceased’s memory). In addition, leadership that is visible and compassionate during this time can help calm the fears and clarify the issues for the community. Senior administrators who respond verbally or in writing to this types of tragedy need to walk the fine line between honoring the life of the student that was lost while emphasizing the implications of such a tragedy and the importance of prevention.
Safe Messaging and Contagion
Sometimes the first time students hear about a campus suicide is via the student newspaper, and this can be a very traumatic and sometimes unsafe way to disseminate this tragic news. While high school communities have more control over their messaging strategies, colleges should be equally cognizant of the risks of contagion or copy-cat suicide. Safe messaging guidelines apply to our campuses and should be observed in school media reporting, memorials, and letters or briefs from school officials. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center safe message strategies include:
- emphasize the complexity of suicide and the importance of help-seeking
- explain warning signs, protective, and risk factors and resources for help
- do not glamorize or romanticize suicide
- do not disclose extensive and disturbing detail about the means of the death
- do not present suicide as a common event, but as a tragedy that can be prevented
Memorialization
Campuses coping with the aftermath of suicide are often at a loss for how to deal with grieving students on one hand and the fear of copycat suicides on the other. One of the questions campuses should ask themselves is, “How might we handle other types of tragic student deaths?”– and start from there. People often need a way to channel their grief, and if the school does not provide this for them, they will do it on their own, often in unsafe ways such as substance abuse or by creating public shrines that can glorify the death. Rather, campuses can find ways to let the students express their grief without causing risk.
- A memorial or candle-lighting service that follows the safe messaging suggestions above and provides counseling resources in the aftermath can help grieving students get closure and connect to help
- Students can write letters or create a photo album of memories to give to the grieving family
- A donation drive can help the campus community donate to a cause that the deceased student would have supported and honor his or her life in an affirming way
Healing and Recovery
While it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the complex reactions that people have in response to suicide, campuses can expect a range of emotional responses– from indifference, to anger, to devastation, to guilt. Students who are struggling can be helped in their recovery process by being able to tell their stories to compassionate listeners. Debriefing sessions sponsored by the counseling center or university ministry can help if the focus is on coping, resilience, and the importance of community rather than a focus on the trauma. Students also may need referrals to community groups specifically serving those bereaved by suicide.
Survivors in Action
Finally, students who have been bereaved by suicide often can become the strongest advocates for suicide prevention on a campus. Allow students who are filled with the passion of making a difference to channel this energy in constructive ways. Some of my students have gone on to be suicide prevention gatekeeper trainers, others have participated in community awareness events; one even won a state beauty pageant with suicide prevention as her platform.
In conclusion, while suicide is often a campus’ worst nightmare, those who are proactive in creating a plan for response are often much better to weather the crisis than those who find themselves reacting in the chaos. We can all hold on to the hope of recovery that Helen Keller expressed when she said, “The world is full of suffering; it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
For more information on suicide prevention, intervention and postvention on college campuses: www.PeoplePreventSuicide.org
For postvention training or more information, please feel free to contact me: Sally@CarsonJSpencer.org.
About the Author
As a psychologist and the survivor of her brother’s suicide, Sally Spencer-Thomas, Ph.D., addresses the issues of suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention from many angles. Currently she is the Executive Director for the Carson J Spencer Foundation (www.CarsonJSpencer.org), a Colorado-based nonprofit that is dedicated to “sustaining a passion for life” through suicide prevention, social enterprise, and support for emerging leaders. She also is the Project Director for Regis University’s Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant and speaks on campuses across the U.S. on suicide prevention through her work with CAMPUSPEAK. Finally, she is the Survivor Division Chair for the American Association of Suicidology.
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