During the month of September, the United States focuses on suicide prevention awareness.
At the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, there are multiple events and trainings that students can attend in addition to the general resources that are already available on campus.
The National Alliance of Mental Illness, or NAMI, is an organization on campus that strives to aid students with mental health challenges and provide needed support.
Asia Kelly, vice president of NAMI, said, “NAMI provides education, peer connection and advocacy for students. Their goals include reducing stigma around mental health through open dialogue, offering peer-led support groups and educational programs and advocating for better mental health policies and practices both on campus and in the community.”
“Overall, UL Lafayette and NAMI are working hand-in-hand to provide meaningful resources for students while continuing to strengthen awareness and support systems.”
NAMI hosts training sessions to teach students how to recognize warning signs in their peers and story-sharing events in which students can speak out about their own mental health challenges.
During the training sessions, those in attendance learn about QPR strategies. This stands for question, persuade and refer.
It teaches people to notice red flags that could lead to a potential suicide attempt and take the necessary actions to prevent it.
Though the whole month is officially known as Suicide Prevention Awareness month, the week of Sept. 7-13 is a week specifically set aside by NAMI for widespread recognition and awareness on the UL Lafayette campus.
UL Lafayette offers numerous resources to students in order to help them overcome any mental health challenges that may come their way during their time in college.
Uwill is a program that allows students to access free counseling 24/7 over their phone or computer. They can meet with therapists for crisis support, psychiatric medication management or just simply to talk.
Bourgeois Hall also offers students a mindfulness studio. This is a quiet space in which people can relax and de-stress.
Lunel Bourdier, a senior majoring in theatre, said, “The school is doing a job, but there are elements that they’re not really tackling. I feel like if they do have these resources, they need to be a little more accessible, a little easier, because there’s so much confusion with the resources and how to attain those resources and who to properly go to.”
Dylan Sellers, a sophomore mathematics major, said, “I think the school could always be doing more to help the students, since suicide is such an ongoing problem in young people.”
“Something they could do in order to really show the students that they have someone to talk to always, is maybe have some of the counselors talk to the students during their English class or other main course. That way the students would be able to meet one of the people they could talk to and really put a name to a face.”
Programs offered through UL Lafayette can make a big difference in the lives of students struggling with mental health battles, but the biggest impact can sometimes come from a person’s peers.
Kelly said, “The best ways students can help include learning warning signs and using QPR training strategies, encouraging peers to access university and NAMI resources, being present without judgement, normalizing conversations about mental health and taking care of their own well-being while supporting others.”
Lily Baca, mathematics major, said, “I mean, especially near difficult times like finals or different things like that, like I noticed a spike in… students wanting to commit suicide. So I feel like, especially during those times, there should be more people available to help students if they’re struggling.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, over 49,000 people died by suicide in the year 2023. This is the equivalent of one death every 11 minutes.
Though suicide rates are higher in certain ethnic groups and races, suicidal thoughts and ideations do not discriminate.
As part of the Lafayette community, it is vital for students to prioritize their own mental health and check in on those that they love.
Mental health battles affect everyone differently, but the resources on and off campus are always available to any student who needs help.