Six suicides at Cornell University since last fall — two occurring within the week of March 11 — have brought the issue of student suicides into the media, some even labeling Cornell a “suicide university.”

At the University, suicides on campus may be less prevalent, but the issue is not completely absent from the community.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate in the past couple of years and not had many on campus,” said University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson.

Williamson said there were five suicide attempts in the three weekends proceeding March 1, but University Police do not keep statistics on attempts. He said suicides are listed as homicides until proven otherwise.

Athens-Clarke County Police Lt. David Leedahl said typically no charges would be filed against someone who attempted suicide, unless their attempt endangered the life of someone else.

Though he was unable to break down the numbers for students and non-students, he said ACC Police responded to 287 calls related to suicide between Aug. 1 and Mar. 23.

“When I say calls related to suicide, I am referring to suicide threat, where someone communicates a desire to commit suicide, suicide attempt, where someone attempted to commit suicide by some means and suicide, where someone actually committed the act,” Leedahl said.
Williamson said University Police have seen many suicide methods, including jumping off of buildings, hangings, guns and the use of drugs.

When it comes to investigating a death as a suicide, Williamson said it comes down to police training to determine whether wounds were self-inflicted.

“It really is a lot like those TV shows,” he said. “Maybe not some of those fancy gadgets, but the process is the same.”

Williamson said no one really understands the underlying reasons for suicidal thoughts.

“They’re all so huge and different, we can’t really say what causes suicide,” he said.

Kelly Simonson, Health Center assistant administrative director, said the most obvious tell-tale sign of self-violence is depression. She said to watch out for those who talk about death, suicide and “not being around.”

She said talking to friends who might be suicidal is the first step toward getting them help because it shows them people do care about them.

It’s a feeling that former University student Laura Jaeger knows all too well.

Jaeger, now a sophomore at Clayton State University, attempted suicide on Nov. 30, 2008.

“It just all built up and started compounding,” she said about the events leading to her attempt.

During her freshman year at the University in 2007, she kept to herself and made few friends. She lost the HOPE scholarship — and her older brother.

Jaeger said her parents made her come back to the University in the fall, though she did not feel ready for it.

“I started drinking heavily, like binge drinking,” she said. “I had a hard time dealing with my brother’s loss.”

On the Saturday before her suicide attempt, she had gone out partying and drinking with her boyfriend at the time, and she had a nightmare that woke her up. Her boyfriend was too intoxicated to comfort her, so Jaeger said she went home.

She said not being comforted was just another emotional strain.

“I went on Facebook and took 15 Tylenol,” she said. She Facebook chatted her boyfriend and told him, but he did not believe her at first.

Jaeger said she took a few more pills until she passed out. She awoke a few hours later and was extremely sick, but she didn’t think her situation was bad enough to call anyone.

In total, she took 37 pills that night before her boyfriend got her best friend to go over and take her to St. Mary’s Hospital.

Though she is grateful for the staff at St. Mary’s, she said the hospital experience and the two months she spent in Ridgeview Institute — a rehabilitation center in Smyrna — were like “going through hell and back.”

Her relationships with family and friends are still shaky, but Jaeger said she is now more stable.

Before her suicide attempt, Jaeger said she utilized the Counseling and Psychiatric Services at the University Health Center.

Simonson said CAPS, which sees about 10 percent of students per year, is available to every student and offers individual, couple and group therapy, as well as psychiatric services and crisis counseling.

Jaeger said if students feel suicidal, they should not be afraid to ask for help.

“Everyone feels like you’re alone and nobody understands you, but that’s the biggest mistake you can make when you consider suicide,” she said.