Letter: ​Deaths of students often go unnoticed

TO THE EDITOR:

“1,100 college students die from athletic injuries every year.”

How would you react to that headline?

There would be investigations and NCAA rules and proclamations made to contain such a drastic problem.

But it does happen. And not just last year or this year, but every year.

The only difference is the college students are dying from mental injuries, not visible physical injuries.

One thousand, one hundred college age students die from the mental injuries or diseases that lead to suicide every year.

Young lives cut short by a temporary, avoidable condition and yet there are no headlines, no investigations.

Are we really so outraged at the tragedy of death among our college students related to athletic injuries, but ready to we look away at the 1,100 college student tragedies related to mental injuries every year?

“More than half of college students have had suicidal thoughts.” Professional Psychology, Vol 40(3), June 2009”

“The average age of onset of most mental health disorders is 18 to 24.” American College Health Association (2012), National College Health Assessment II

Too often it is convenient to turn away from the truth.

To use stigma to distance ourselves from that which we do not have a solution.

There is a national organization with chapters on more than 400 college campuses that chooses to fight for the lives of those 1,100 students.

ActiveMinds.org has a chapter at the University of North Carolina.

On April 18, the UNC chapter is sponsoring the recognized Active Minds traveling exhibit “Send Silence Packing.”

Brian Nasky

Volente, TX