Story in Psychology Today: Colleges are shipping depressed students home. Campuses are opting for medical leave rather than treatment.
"In the last 18 months, six NYU students have jumped to their deaths, although the school acknowledges only four as suicides. When Elizabeth Shin, a student at M.I.T., committed suicide in 2000, her family sued the university for $27 million, alleging the school failed to provide adequate care. Her family lost the case...
At Cornell University in New York, administrators say that forced medical leave is rare. However, that may be because students are given a "choice" by the school: six months of voluntary leave or 12 months of involuntary leave...
For some students, leaving campus can mean leaving high-quality mental health care and university hospitals, which are traditionally key to helping troubled students get back on their feet...
But some colleges have another strategy: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign mandates counseling for suicidal students. Student must attend four therapy sessions following a suicide threat or attempt. Paul Joffe, director of the suicide prevention program, says the university's suicide rate has been cut in half since the program began in the 1980s. Of the 2,000 students who have gone through the sessions, only one has been asked to take leave. The student returned and graduated".
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