Suicide touches us all. Everyone knows someone who has contemplated it, or might have contemplated it themselves. Suicide can happen to anybody. Nobody is immune, and it can hit without warning. At one moment, a person might feel deliriously happy, content, even bored, then at the next moment everything can feel wrong. For those who suffer from depression, even the smallest incident can bring about suicidal thoughts.
When the sadness comes, it reaches to your bones. And, worst of all, it feels like it is never going to go away. It convinces you that it is permanent; that you will never again feel the slightest twinge of happiness or pleasure.
Of course, this is never the truth. Things always change. Life is always in flux. We are never powerless. Happiness will return to a sad life, just as sadness will return to a happy life. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of that. Sometimes we just need to talk to somebody. That is why 24-hour suicide hotlines, and campus counseling services, make such a critical difference. A caring, anonymous voice, even in the darkest and most troubling hours of the night, can save a life.
Suicidal feelings are nothing to be ashamed about. As a culture, we need to be more open about our dark emotions. We aren’t weak for feeling these things. We aren’t “mentally ill.” It isn’t abnormal. It isn’t childish. There should be absolutely no stigma attached to having suicidal thoughts. What we need to foster is stigma-free open communication.
That is why the Emerald is concerned about proposed policy changes, which would allow the University to force suicidal students to take medical leave. We understand that the policy is only meant for the rare depressed student that refuses to seek help and is becoming danger to others. We understand the University’s concerns about liability issues.
It is of concern that the policy might create an environment of fear, real or imagined, in students; they might think if they admit to suicidal thoughts, they will get kicked out of school. The last thing the University should be doing is giving students additional reasons to stay silent and keep their pain a secret.
We don’t know if our concerns are justified, mostly because the student body has not been involved in the process up to this point. The Emerald insists that, at the appropriate stage in the process, the student body is given the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes. We further insist that student comments are taken seriously and that they result in changes to the developed policy, if that is the will of the students. Refusing to do so will make the policy illegitimate in our eyes, and it will greatly hamper the University’s effectiveness in enforcing it.
Occasions like this one are an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about the issue of suicide. The University should be worrying more about ways to encourage students with suicidal feelings to come forward rather than giving them more reasons to stay quiet. We must as a society work to remove the stigma surrounding suicide.

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