Counselors lead program for suicide prevention
On Oct. 5, students passing through the Beehive from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. had the opportunity to hear two senior nursing students discuss the reality of serious mental health illnesses. Mark Dami and Carolyn Kaddy led the presentation, which focused on the topics of depression and suicide.
The event, coined “Learn a Lesson on Depression,” also featured information from Project Semicolon, a non-profit movement designed to provide hope for individuals who struggle with depression, self-injury, mental illness and suicide.
“[It] focuses on the idea of moving on from all of the difficult things that surround depression and suicide,” said Dami about Project Semicolon.
The semicolon symbol that represents this movement is based on a simple statement: for anyone dealing with a difficult situation, those hardships can be overcome. While a period is much more of a final ending, according to Dami, a semicolon indicates there is more to come.
“[It’s] the whole idea that whatever has happened up to this point, your life still goes on,” added Jane Owen, director of the counseling center. “In your story, there’s still much more to hear.”
Some of the topics Dami and Kaddy spoke about with students included depression and healthy ways to relieve stress. There was also a prize wheel where students could answer questions for a chance to win prizes such as semicolon temporary tattoos, mugs and candy.
While the program was largely informative, Dami said there were personal stories shared as well.
“We had some people talk to us about their issues with depression and their issues with any type of self-harm or suicide attempts, or even family members or friends that have gone through that,” said Dami. “It was really nice to see them come up. A lot of them thanked us and said ‘hey, thanks for coming out and having this program, it meant a lot to see it being talked about on campus’.”
Dami and Kaddy’s presentation fulfilled a project requirement for senior-level nursing course, Clinical Prevention and Population Health, with Assistant Professor of Nursing, Melany Chrash. As part of this class, students create projects to present to the university’s student body.
“All of the nursing students have to do community health projects and different topics where they educate,” said Owen. “I think [Dami and Kaddy] chose this because they thought it was a prevalent topic among college students.”
According to Owen, Dami and Kaddy discussed the topic of mental health and depression for their project with her earlier in the semester. The counseling center then supplied pamphlets and other informational handouts regarding depression and suicide for the event.
Owen said that many individuals may experience feelings of depression, as it is a natural human emotion, but some have more serious feelings that could potentially lead to suicidal thoughts.
“The whole movement to talk about mental illness and to let people know that they’re not alone and that they’re not the only one dealing with it is just so important,” said Owen.
Owen added that the entire mission of movements such as Project Semicolon is to start talking about issues like mental illness, depression and self-harming or suicidal thoughts as opposed to hiding them away.
Dami hopes that as a result of the presentation, students on campus will gain new understanding of the seriousness surrounding suicide and depression.
“I hope that people just recognize it a little more, and recognize [that] if you ever see this semicolon tattoo, think of those things and think about what these people have gone through in their life and are overcoming right now.”
He also encourages those who may have friends or family members that are dealing with serious depression or suicidal thoughts to help them find help.
Overall, Dami estimates there were 80-90 students who stopped by the event throughout the day.
Dami and Kaddy will be presenting the same topic again on Nov. 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Benedum Dining Hall.