By Mark Revesai | Observer Contributor
Leominster campus students taking Introduction to Psychology embarked on a suicide awareness campaign as part of their service learning that culminated in a display on the Gardner campus.
The students picked suicide awareness because each one of them who participated had a story to tell about suicide and how it affected them individually and as a group. They wanted to talk about how people with suicidal thoughts were all around us, and we should listen to them and pay attention to what they have to say.
It is also important to understand the various triggers of suicide. Different occupations have their unique set of challenges. Depending on what an individual is engaged in they face a different set of challenges. For example, a new employee may become stressed because they do not feel that they have been accepted within the group of fellow employees.
Officer Casanova, a United States Army recruiter, said, “People in some occupations work above normal stress levels,” and he said that if they perceive that nobody is paying attention to them they could become suicidal.
The group’s awareness campaign was showcased at the main campus in October and caught the attention of other students.
Suzanne Eglington, a Psychology student who led the campaign, lost a friend to suicide 30 years ago and she felt that carrying out the awareness was critically important. She said that no life should be lost through preventable suicides.
She said, “He reached out, but we thought he was kidding.” Eglington’s friend talked about not wanting to live because his parents were going through a divorce.
“He felt lost and nobody thought he was serious,” said Eglington. “We would like to make people aware that there are steps and plans they could make to ease the burden of suicidal thoughts.”
According to Eglington, it is important for people to know that they are not alone, and that it is okay to speak out. “Knowing what I know today, I would have alerted authorities about my friend’s behavior and the way he spoke about wanting to die,” said Eglington. “Unfortunately, 30 years ago the help available today was not there.”
The class recommended that when someone is behaving oddly someone should befriend them, listen to them, and also initiate a plan for them. Recommending professional help and notifying loved ones was also part of the solution.
Shelly Nicholson, Psychology professor, said that she was proud of the students for their choice. Nicholson further stated that the material designed during the campaign was forwarded to Melissa Manzi, the Mental Health counselor.
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