The mood of room 724 could literally be described as suicidal on October 19 at noon. Roop Dhillon was presenting as part of the Crossing Borders, Building Bridges events and her topic was suicide awareness and prevention. Dhillon works for “The Effort” a suicide prevention and crisis services organization and spoke to inform the audience about the complex problem of suicide. Dhillon said 32,000 people die per year in the United states and then showed a brief video which said every 38 seconds a suicide is attempted. Dhillon then brought home the relevance of the issue by saying that 3 college students die per day from suicide and 10% of college students consider suicide. The audience was provided with several more statistics including the fact that females attempt suicide 2-3x more than males but males complete suicide 4x more. Dhillon then stressed the urgency of the issue by saying that over the last 50 years suicide amongst 15-24 year olds has increased 200%. Next Dhillon asked the audience what might motivate someone to commit suicide. Talking with the audience Dhillon explained that suicide was motivated by a crisis which as the audience noted could be anything from a breakup to a family members death. Whatever the cause Dhillon said it was a persons feelings and not the event itself that determined the likelihood of suicide. Behaviors Dhillon said to look for in a person contemplating suicide included isolation, reckless behavior, huge emotional changes and in general anti-social behavior. The feelings she said such a person might be experiencing ranged from guilt, and depression, to low self esteem or hopelessness. Dhillon then showed another quick video which said that it is important and help-full to talk to someone who may be considering suicide. After the video Dhillon told the audience ways to help including recognizing the signs, taking all suicide talk seriously, being calm and direct, and perhaps most importantly encouraging professional help. Dhillon then urged not leaving a suicidal person alone and not giving cheap, easy advice. Towards the end of the presentation Dhillon gave out the phone number of her organization (1-800-273-8255) and shared information about how they help people. She cited on particular case where she received a call from a suicidal man and through her techniques was able to get him to reconsider and seek help. Dhillon said the main goal is to get them to get past the suicidal stage, think clearly and get help for themselves.
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