It can range anywhere from mild depression and anxiety or lead to alcohol and drug rehabilitation or even suicide. I was shocked at the amount of death certificates our company would receive where the cause of death was suicide. I have often wondered what would cause a young adult to make that kind of decision. Well, since I have to review the medical records, it didn't take me long to find out why.
For one student, I will call her “Amy”, she had just moved from another country. She was unfamiliar with America but wanted to come here to further her education. She started her semester off doing very well in school, but it didn't take long for her to become home sick. She apparently wasn't making any friends and all that her life consisted of was school, her part time job, and her apartment. She started shutting herself off from the outside world because her classes were very intense and she wanted to be sure to make good grades. Her grades did start slipping which only made her more determined to give it everything she had. One day, during her second semester, she decided to finally take a day to relax. She decided to go for a bike ride. While she was out riding, she was involved in an accident which broke her right leg in a few areas. She had to undergo surgery the next day. Her parents were unable to come be with her during this time which made her recovery more difficult. In the midst of all of this, she ended her life.
I can't say for certain if the mounting stress was the reason she killed herself or if there was some underlying cause. In many cases that I have read about where a student committed suicide or attempted to commit suicide, it is often related to stress in one way or another. I have seen in a few situations were the death was an accident. Where a student may have overdosed on something but never gave any indication that there was ever a reason they would want to end their life.
I don't think there is a way to rid the stress in your life but you can certainly learn how to handle stress. With the increase that I have seen in just the past four years involving the suicide rate with college students, it makes sense that there should be programs available on campuses to teach student how to handle the stress they may be dealing with at this time in their lives. There should be private sessions and classes to help students in any way possible.
I came across another student about a year ago; I will call him “Paul”. He called into our office because he didn't think we were paying enough on his medical claims. He was left with a patient responsibility of about $10,000. I finally had to take the phone call because the conversation had escalated to a point where the customer service representative was unable to assist him, not to mention that he was becoming quite irate. As I spoke to him and explained why his claims paid the way they did, I browsed through his claims history. Nearly every claim that we had received for him, other than his current injury, was related to depression and drug abuse. Before our conversation ended, he mentioned that he should just go ahead and kill himself since the insurance company didn't want to do anything to help him. This statement alarmed me, especially since I saw what so many of his claims were for. I took the liberty to pull his file and see if we had any medical records for him. Once I saw that we did, I called his therapist and let him know who I was and why I was calling.
As I read through the records to see why this student had reached this point in his life where he would even state that he would kill himself, it became very clear. For years, this student had struggled to fit in because of his obesity. College started off roughly until he found drugs. While taking drugs, he was never hungry and the weight was coming off. Even though the weight was coming off, he was turning into a person no one wanted to be around. The odds had fallen against him but he did begin seeing a therapist to help with the depression and drug abuse. He was doing much better now but any time life threw a curve ball his way, he was ready to give up and end everything. Thankfully, in this situation, he didn't kill himself.
