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Stigma Busting: Talking About Suicide

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Jason Dodson

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month (SPAM) which is an important reminder to be thinking about ways stigma surrounding suicide as well as different risk and protective factors in suicidality impact us, our loved ones, and society at large. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website can be a great resource for learning about the many ways to be involved during SPAM as well as in prevention of suicide altogether. More information can be found at their website

The NAMI website (linked above) states that about 4.9% of all adults, 11.3% of young adults, and 45% of LGBTQ youths have had serious thoughts of suicide. A study done by Zeifman et al (2021) discusses how suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. The Zeifman et al (2021) article discusses how risk factors such as depression severity, hopelessness, and self-criticism are the most integral risk factors in suicidality amongst college students and generally people 18-25 years of age. That same article discusses how important stable and healthy support systems and reinforced self-compassion are the most important protective factors in suicidality among the same population (Zeifman et al 2021: https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2019.1679154).

It’s also incredibly important to note that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is live 24/7 and is available by phone call or SMS Text messaging, this resource can be invaluable to anyone experiencing suicide risk and crises. Specific to Franklin County, Ohio, ADAMH has a call/text line for suicide prevention: 614-221-5445. As well, the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation (OSPF) website has a great deal of valuable resources on dealing with suicidality and prevention, namely this short yet insightful piece on how to discuss suicide with someone in crisis or contemplating suicide: How to Talk to Someone About Suicide.

Surrounding this topic of reducing stigma and honing our own skills in discussing suicidality, The Ohio State University offers a suicide prevention training program entitled REACH, information on that can be found here: https://suicideprevention.osu.edu/reach/. Also available from the university are the services provided by Counseling & Consultation Services, whether it be from the embedded clinicians in each College across the university, providing resources for faculty, staff, and loved ones to support students, or providing an exhaustive list of all the resources available to those in crisis situations.

Hopefully these resources can help, and the stigma surrounding talking about suicide can subside. Part of the issue surrounding the stigma on suicide is that few people are willing to discuss it, perhaps thinking that discussing it will incite or encourage suicidality among those dealing with depression or in those contemplating suicide. The reality of the matter is educating oneself on suicide and depression, and the risk and protective factors therein, can be imperative in preventing suicide because it leads to us having informed and supportive interactions and relationships with those in crisis or dealing with depression in general. The more we learn about suicide, the more we talk about suicide, the closer we get to ending suicide because we know what to do and how to help those at risk of suicide or otherwise in crisis. Let’s hope we can get better about preventing suicide not only in our circles, but in all of society if we all work together.

What is Stress?

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By: Jayson Woody

Stress is normal; it can affect your body negatively and positively as a reaction from adversity. If stress is not relieved it can result in body aches, tiredness, and headache. Did you know that 8 out 10 college students report experiencing stress? A study indicates that first year or transfer students often encounter a higher rate of stress. The American College Health Association’s (ACHA) conducted a  National College Health Assessment and found the following in a survey report: college students performing poor academically experience these conditions during a semester

  • 2% stress
  • 8% anxiety
  • 2% depression
  • 4% sleep difficulties

The responses from the data occur from the students having new responsibilities or adapting to a new lifestyle. The behavioral effects can have a severe impact for the student academically such as poor grades and cause social isolation.

On the other hand, stress can impact students positively as well. Good stress helps people achieve their life’s daily challenges. Stress can also be used as motivation to reach goals, become organized and disciplined. A suggestion to lower stress would be to create a self-care plan to incorporate in your daily routine. Self-care is a good skill to balance school, work and health of a productive college student. If you use this plan effectively you will improve your social and education experience during college. Here is a list of tips for prioritizing self-care.

Reference: University of Massachusetts Global. Self-care for college students: Learn how to prioritize your wellness. June 30, 2020 by University of Massachusetts Global

 

All the Small Things: A Note on Self-Care

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By: Jason Dodson 

Let me paint you a familiar picture. You wake up, it’s Monday, the beginning of the week. You’ve got to get food and get to your classes. After classes you want to spend time with friends or your partner, maybe go out for food as well. Instead, you head home and open Carmen, navigating through the syllabi, and skimming the modules to see what readings are required. While doing the mental math of how many pages of how many books, articles, slideshows, etc. you will have to read over the next 144 hours, you move on to assignments (the actual work that needs to be done in those same 144 hours): 4 discussion posts, 2 papers, a group project, and two quizzes.   

 And then after the already exhausting task of putting together a priority list of things to do for the week, you get an announcement notification from a professor with the title, “Don’t Forget About Self-Care!” The professor more than likely has good intentions, but its impact at the top of a busy week is twofold. For one it is blind to students’ gargantuan pile of assignments and readings to sift through and complete, it is adding on to said gargantuan pile as well. Self-care can feel like an additional assignment if you either A: don’t know yet what the best and most effective form of self-care to can practice or B: are not able to work your ideal self-care practice into your incredibly busy schedule.   

 It can be terribly easy to write off self-care as an impossible task to incorporate into your day simply because of how hard it is to achieve and keep up with in the first place. But, maybe taking the time to brew a fresh cup of coffee in the morning is self-care to you. Maybe listening to music in your headphones for a few minutes without a screen in front of you feels meditative. Whatever it may be, whatever small thing that brings you joy and ease even for a short period. These things may seem like a waste of time, or something you may feel like you haven’t earned due to all the other obligations you have, but should be incorporated anyway if they bring you a sense of calm and happiness. 

 Self-care is not about finishing all of your assignments and slumping down in your chair, exhausted, and then carrying on with the things that you enjoy doing that you’ve deprived yourself of to that point. It’s about finding ways to incorporate, even to a small degree those things you enjoy so you don’t feel deprived and exhausted at the end of it all.  After all, self-care should be considered more literally as “taking care of yourself”, which is only definable by you. 

 So next time you’re reminded about self-care, don’t ignore it. Find something, some time in that day in the middle or beginning of all the assignments or whatever expectations you have, take some time to yourself for, again, even a small thing to give yourself calm and happiness in that moment, enough to carry on. 

Knocking People-Pleasing Tendencies

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By: Jewell Jones

You all may be wondering what a people pleaser is; it’s exactly as it sounds- someone who pleases people. Although most people try to do right by others anyway, people pleasers go the extra mile to make sure they are doing good by everyone. Some examples are not being able to say no, even though you want to, not establishing or enforcing healthy boundaries, being too agreeable, and worrying about what others think regarding your behaviors. Having these qualities can lead to you feeling overwhelmed, being stressed out, overextending yourself, and not exhibiting the best you possible.

Now, the question is why? How does one become a people pleaser? There are a few ways all disclosed on this website, but I’ll discuss a few if you don’t feel like opening another tab. I’ll also address some others that aren’t on that site, but this one. One reason behind being a people pleaser is simply being a person full of compassion. This is probably the most common reason, but we still have to remember that we are important as well and need to take care of ourselves first. Another reason is how you were raised- authoritarian households (high expectations followed by punishment if not met), tiger parenting (pushed to perform successfully) and trauma are all ways people end up exhibiting people-pleasing tendencies. More ways include fear of rejection and disappointing others, wanting to fit in, and lack of self-awareness and love.

In order to reverse these tendencies, we have to first be aware of them, then work on changing them. Next, we have to realize we can choose what we want and don’t want to do, no matter who for or how important it may seem to them. Another step is setting boundaries and following through with them- the boundaries are no good if people continue to disregard them. Simply saying no, and ‘sitting with discomfort’ is one of the most important factors when reversing people-pleasing because people then have less power over your actions. The website above lists a couple more along with reminders to tell yourself when it gets difficult to challenge your behaviors.

Now ask yourself this question- am I a people pleaser? If you answered no, and aren’t lying, congratulations! I wish I could say the same. If you answered yes, I hope you considered this post and will do some of the things to help you gain your power back. Please feel free to let me know if this post was helpful, and any other comments you may have.

Why do we need SOARS?

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Life doesn’t stop for school, but it can get in the way of getting the most out of your education.

SOARS helps students bridge the gap between what you have and what you need.

While asking for help can be hard, it’s not usual. Similar types of programs to help students meet their unmet needs are popping up all over:

We offer assistance for academic and personal success skills, goal setting, community referrals, support, and accountability.

Welcome to a new academic year

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This pandemic has been hard on all of us. With the surge in the Delta variant and the return of public health mandates, it’s tempting to believe that we are missing out on our “ideal” college experience. This short post by SOARS peer-professional Olivia Bear talks about how it’s OK to be upset about that, and how to keep moving forward.

Lost Experiences

Rounding out your resume during PA/NP semesters

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Moving Beyond COVID

(by John Babyak)

Students who looking to apply for graduate and professional programs may worry about PA/NP on their transcripts. During the Covid-19 semesters, colleges are aware that there was a higher percentage of students using PA/NP and have accounted for this.

Although Covid-19 semesters have been accounted for, students should be aware that graduate
schools and programs may differ in the acceptance of courses taken as PA/NP. Students should
consult with their advisors, graduate programs, and universities to understand their PA/NP
decisions. Visit https://advising.osu.edu/sp20-passnon-pass#Important-PA-NP-considerations for
PA/NP considerations. If you are one of those students who wants to find other ways for your application to stick out, here are a few friendly reminders and resources for you.

  • Research, internships, and volunteering are great ways to gain experience as well as add to your resumes and graduate applications. Although students may not have been able to experience typical research, internships, and volunteer opportunities because Covid-19, there are still ways for you to gain experience through virtual volunteer activities. https://www.givebesa.org/ is a great resource to find volunteer opportunities!
  • Students can still talk about transferable skills they have gathered from previous job experiences, volunteer opportunities, etc. https://www.onetonline.org/ has lists of skills for each job.
  • If students feel that Covid-19 has affected their lives too much and do not feel they have enough experience for a graduate program, they can consider delaying graduate school for a year; and use that time to gather career experience.

Another issue students may have is that their GPA is below the minimum requirement for a graduate program, and if this is the case there are still options for you!

  • One of the options these students have is to see if they are eligible to retake courses to achieve a higher grade.
  • Students can also consider the GRE exam to help boost their chances of acceptance into their program.
  • If those options do not work for you, another option would be to find a school that has a lower GPA requirement for your program and apply there.
  • If you are a student who is interested in exploring graduate and professional programs that
    match your interests or is interested in career exploration and job analysis, check out this link!
    https://ccss.osu.edu/undergrads/explore-graduate-professional-school/identifying-programs-thatmatch-your-interests/

Staying Motivated and Healthy For A New Semester

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As the Spring 2021 semester begins, it can be challenging for students to get prepared and find their motivation to begin coursework and attend classes while getting into the swing of a new semester. One way students can prepare and motivate themselves for a new semester is by creating a schedule and planning out the workload for classes and sticking to that schedule. Creating a schedule and plan for the semester will help put stress at ease and get students excited and motivated! Students should review their created schedules and plans every couple of weeks and tweak if you find your previous one was too ambitious or to reflect any new priorities and commitments. One great resource that OSU offers to help motivate and prepare students is the Dennis Learning Center. The Dennis Learning Center is a resource that offers courses, academic coaching, and workshops to help students develop their learning and motivation strategies. As important as it is to get prepared and motivated, it is also crucial for students to stay healthy throughout the semester. OSU offers many supportive resources to help keep students healthy. One of those resources is the Student Wellness Center which empowers students to strive for strength and wellness through their programs such as nutrition coaching, wellness coaching, and many more! Another resource offered by OSU to support students’ health is the office of Student Life Counseling and Consultation Services which strives to support students struggling with their mental health. Although the start of a new semester can be a stressful time for students, OSU offers a variety of resources to support their students and keep them on track to succeed! With the support of these resources, students can have a successful semester at OSU!

The links to the above resources are listed below:
https://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/
https://swc.osu.edu/
https://ccs.osu.edu/

Let’s talk about mental health

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Let’s talk about mental health. With finals coming up soon and everything going on in the world, sometimes we just need to talk about how things are going. Let’s Talk is a Free and confidential resource offered to all Ohio State students. It’s a one on one session for about 15 to 20 minutes that allows for a new insight on something you may struggling with or the time can be used to allow you to vent. One of the best things about Let’s Talk is there is very quick sign up process where you have the option of a video call or audio call. This allows you to get rid of that sometimes-awkward moment of having the person see you while you talk to them. Overall, Let’s Talk is a wonderful service that helps get students connected with someone to talk to and it is easily accessible to all.

Here is a link to signup if you want to give Let’s Talk a try:

https://ccs.osu.edu/services/on-demand-services/lets-talk-consultations

The Importance of Self-Care 

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As the Autumn 2020 semester begins to wind to a close, many of us are worried and stressed about our final exams and projects. As all of these assignments and exams pile up, we as students begin to stress out and overwhelm ourselves about completing these assignments on time. Although the completion of these assignments and exams are important; it is essential for us to put time aside to focus on self-care activities. Our mental, emotional, and physical well-being are critical to remain healthy so that we are able to avoid burnout. If we are unable to take care and focus on those aspects of ourselves, how can we expect ourselves to stay motivated and determined to finish out the semester strong? Self-care activities are meant to relax and re-energize ourselves while increasing our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Research tells us that self-care keeps us healthy and improves our moods. Remember, you are just as important as that assignment, so let’s spend time caring for ourselves and finish out the semester strong! 

Attached below are a couple of resources that give you more information about why self-care is important, how you can practice and prioritize it, and a few self-care activities you can engage in. 

https://cmhc.utexas.edu/selfcare.html https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/134-activities-to-add-to-your-self-care-plan/