Dr. Kelly Posner on Student Suicide and College Depression

(November 4, 2009)  

New York University's Bobst Library wasn't a crime scene Tuesday, so students walked by mostly unaware that someone died in the building early that morning.

 

A 20-year-old junior from Westchester County jumped from the 10th floor in what police called a suicide.

 

"Unfortunately it's not surprising," said a NYU student.

 There has been a rash of suicides at NYU in recent years. After two in the Bobst Library in 2003, the school installed plexiglass barriers on the railings facing the atrium.

 

Dr. Kelly Posner who directs the suicide risk assessment program at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, said suicide is the second-leading cause of death in college students.

 

"Forty-nine percent of college students say they've been so depressed at any one time that they have trouble functioning. Fifteen percent will have met criteria for clinical depression. At least 10 percent will have seriously thought about suicide in any given year," said Posner. "So it's a major issue that's not particular to any one university but one we really need to address."

  

See the story online at NY1