8 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 22, 1997
LOCAL/STATE
Take a look at this
Experts blame copycat
behavior for MSU suicides
By Brian Campbell
Daily Staff Reporter
A string of recent suicides at
Michigan State University has left
some psychiatrists worried that a fatal
trend of copycat behavior may be devel-
oping. Five MSU students have taken
their own lives since January.
Annie Delories Sloan, associate dean
of students at the University, said
depressed students are sometimes moti-
vated to end their lives after their peers
commit suicide.
"Sometimes we do have copycat
behavior where they read or hear some-
thing in the media, and they decide,
'This is a good way for me,"' Sloan
said.
Fathima Syed, an MSU senior in the
School of Natural Sciences, said she
doesn't believe the suicides were direct-
ly linked, but that they may have influ-
enced each other.
"It is a big coincidence that they hap-
pened so close together, Syed said.
"It's an incentive, but I don't think the
deaths were linked - it was individual
choice."
Sloan said the last time she remem-
bered a University student committing
suicide occurred off campus during the
1995-96 academic year. Sloan said the
recent deaths of MSU students raises
the issue of despairing University stu-
dents following suit, especially with
finals coming up.
"It's a concern any time you lose a
student, whether it's at our University or
any other university, especially when
they have so much of their life ahead of
them and they decide their situation is
hopeless," Sloan said.
University psychology Prof. Chris
Peterson said
he has
noticed simi-
lar trends in It was
the past, and . W
that the con- IndividualI
tinuation of
such trends
can be Michigan .
viewed as
following
enticing examples to escape personal
problems.
"You do periodically hear about this,
and I think the interpretation is pretty
straightforward," Peterson said. "For a
person who is depressed, to see other
people in the vicinity taking their lives,
it legitimizes it. There are pockets of
this - this is not unprecedented."
Peterson said suicide rates among
youth have risen in recent years, but are
still low when compared with those of
elderly men, who have the highest sui-
cide rates. Depression is the primary
cause of suicide and alcohol is fre-
quently involved, Peterson said.
While suicides are usually perceived
as resulting from severe individual
problems, some psychiatrists believe
societal influences such as
Kevorkian's trail of assisted suicides
and the recent Heaven's Gate ritual
deaths may encourage people to take
their lives.
choice."
Fathima Syed
State student
But Sloan said
it's unlikely that
such events incite
students to commit
suicide.
"it could have a
little to do with"
but we've had suo
cides long before
Dr. Kevorkian and
Heaven's Gate,"
ADDIE SMITH/Daily
School of Art junior Erica Smith looks on as Professor Jon Rush critiques her Alabaster sculpture.
I
Sloan said.
Sloan encouraged students to seek
counseling at the University if they are
having trouble coping with academic or
social problems.
"I want our students to know that
with finals coming up that we're h*
for them and that we're not judgmen-
tal," Sloan said.
Students who want to discuss prob-
lens with counselors or psychologists
can go to Counseling and Psychological
Services, the University's free
Psychological Clinic, or call the
University's 24-hour personal guidance
hotline at 764-GUID.
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