COLUMBUS – Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students in the United States and attention to it has been drawn recently by the deaths of OSU students who have jumped or fallen from parking garages, prompting the university to create a task force earlier this year to review suicide prevention efforts and mental health support services.
The OSU Wexner Medical Center and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will host their fifth annual suicide prevention conference Friday
“Suicide Prevention at Ohio Schools and Campuses”: 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Ohio Union’s Archie Griffin Ballroom, 1739 N. High St.
Dr. Eileen Ryan, interim chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at the Wexner Medical Center, and Dr. Mark Hurst, medical director of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, will lead the conference, during which more than 350 participants will learn about addressing the problem, including the fact that many at-risk students go unrecognized and untreated.
Leading researchers and advocates who will discuss suicide prevention in the school and campus community:
Ryan and Javaune Adams-Gaston, senior vice president of Ohio State’s Student Life, will discuss the campus response to student suicide, including the recent organization of the task force.
Cheryl King, director of the Youth Depression and Suicide Prevention Program and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, will discuss college students’ perceived barriers to mental health services and describe a new intervention designed to link these students to services.
Jeff Bridge, director of Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Center for Suicide Prevention and Research, and Glenn Thomas, clinical director of the hospital’s Community-based Services for Behavioral Health will discuss the school settings as a site for suicide prevention.