Empathy as a College Suicide Prevention Strategy

Dori S. Hutchinson, Sc.D.

Margaret Ross, MD

Boston University

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Our Reality…..Suicide is the second leading cause of death forcollege students.

+The Context of our Crisis

+The “Me” Generation

Raised to feel good –everyone has a blue ribbon.

First generation raised on line.

Described as self-centered, competitive, highly accomplished, and entitled.

Lack coping skills and emotional resilience.

Attending College under “soaring expectations and crushing realities.”

(Twenge, 2006)

Financial Burden of attending college is stunning for this generation

+Lack of Empathy

Students in this generation have an empathy deficit.

University of Michigan Study of 13,737 college students documented 40% lower scores in capacity to empathize than counterparts 20-30 years ago. ( Konrath, et al, 2011)

Qualitative study found that this generations feels very little obligation or collective responsibility to help others in distress. (Smith & Snell, 2009)

+Distress on Campus

Rising levels of distress and mental illnesses on campus.

ACHA (2011) study: 61% reported feeling very sad, 31% felt so depressed that it was difficult to function in past 12 months.

Suicidal thinking far more common on campuses: 18% of undergraduates, 15% of graduate students have seriously considered attempting suicide..

+What Contributes to this Distress? Social Media-electronic

connectedness: functional buffer to empathy.

Parental anxiety and helicopter parenting

Current World and Economic Realities

Lack of resiliency and coping skillsdelayed development of stress hardiness.

+Why is Empathy important on Campus? Empathy a critical

dimension of resilient mindset and wellbeing.(Brooks, 2010)

Empathy is a skill that can be taught to students.

Empathy is a characteristic of cultures that can be nurtured and strengthened.

Empathy and its counterpart, distress, have academic, health, social, financial and moral implications for College Communities.

+Life Includes Suffering…..

+Why are students distressed?

Emerging mental illnesses

Academics

Relationships

Family issues

Financial Issues

Balancing work-school and social lives

+What Distress looks like on Campus

Poor grades

Risky sexual behaviors

Risky behaviors

Excessive alcohol and drug use-Binging

Sexual aggression often under the influence of alcohol

Hazing and bullying in person and electronically

Body image and eating disorders

+Student Response to Distress

They turn to one another-67% of the time they seek each other in times of need.

They do not willingly seek adult or professional help.

+Targeted Empathy Tools

An initiative at Boston University to build empathy at the community, faculty and student levels-Funded by SAMHSA GLS Campus Suicide prevention grant.

Focus is on infusing the community with empathetic attitudes, resources, and skills to promote help-seeking and reduce distress.

+Community Development of

website to communicate student to student that their mental health is important and that help is available on campus.

www.bu.edu/mentalhealth

Mental health roundtable to create collegial empathy communication amongst campus providers.

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“Tell Someone, BU listens”

Collaboration with ACTIVE MINDS group to decrease loneliness associated with distress and increase empathy on campus for distress.

+BU Secret

+Empathy Tools for Students and Faculty

+Student Support Network Training Evidence based

curriculum that builds the skill of empathy in students to assist them to recognize signs of distress and suicide in their peers ( Morse & Shulze, 2009)

The goal is to not leave empathy to chance, but to teach the skills of empathy to activate it in our college community.

Targeted Athletes, ROTC program, Greek Life, Minorities, LGBTQ, international students, RA’s for 2 reasons: They have specific risk

factors for distress that can lead to suicidal thinking and suicide

They represent large subpopulations of students to help us create a dense network of empathy champions on the student level of our campus.

+Student Support Network Training 6 week course.

Meets 1 hour each week.

Students recruited and nominated to a “leadership Training”.

We offer 4 groups of 12 students at a time, co-led by 2 faciliatators.

We offer it once a semester.

Manualized EBP curriculum developed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Each module includes information and skills teaching of empathy, supporting someone in distress and referring

+Modules of Student Support Network Training

Mental Health and Distress on Campus

Using Empathy as a Supportive Skill

Depression and Anxiety

Alcohol and Substance Abuse

Recognizing and Responding to Suicidal Behavior

Using Empathy to help others get help

+“Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time. And when you listen deeply and respond with empathy, you can know yourself in everyone.”

-Rachel Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom

+Responding to Students in Distress For Faculty

Modification of the SSN training to teach faculty how to respond with empathy as well as refer.

90 minute trainings that focus on the power of an empathetic response to a student in distress.

Targeted faculty meetings at 17 colleges at the University.

Show the BU SECRET video first to evoke empathy in faculty that these are THEIR students in OUR community.

+Zac’s Story

+IMPACT

Administration, faculty and students in cross site evaluation document the cultural change in campus –it has become a “caring community” and also indicate increased knowledge of how to respond to distress and suicidal thinking.

“The program has given me the confidence to make the call to help someone in need, it has helped me to become a better listener, and a better friend”.

Over a 1000 people trained thus far.

Increased help seeking behaviors on campus-

+Questions, Discussion, & Inspiration

Contact information

Dori Hutchinson, Sc.D

dorih@bu.edu

Margaret Ross, MD

mross@bu.edu