Suicide Prevention

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students. Suicide does not discriminate based on age, race, gender, or sexual orientation. Eighteen percent of undergraduates and 15% of graduate students have seriously considered making an attempt at suicide at some point in their lives. If we look at this number in terms of U.T., this means that out of our undergraduate population (which is approximately 35,000), 6,300 undergraduate students on our campus seriously have considered suicide at some point in their lifetime.

Eight percent of undergraduates and 5% of graduate students have attempted suicide at some point in their lifetime.

Based on these statistics it is likely that some of you know someone who has at one point thought about, attempted or died by suicide.

Be That One addresses suicide prevention on our campus by:

• Raising awareness about the issue of college student suicide
• Engaging faculty, staff and students to take an active role in suicide prevention
• Providing focused trainings to campus groups around suicide prevention
• Striving to ensure that U.T.'s systems, policies, culture, and environment are conducive to students' mental health.

Our program is designed to serve the needs of the diverse UT population with information, education, training, and referral services.

Training and outreach programming includes:

• Specialized trainings on suicide prevention for faculty/staff and students
• A wide array of campus activities that support suicide prevention
• Be That One. trainings held throughout the semester

Contact Be That One.

Interested in training?

• If you're interested in requesting a Be That One workshop for your group, please contact our Suicide Prevention Coordinator, at 475-6962. Please be ready to discuss potential dates and the population attending the workshop. For more information, please contact Marian E. Trattner. Please send an email to mtrattner@austin.utexas.edu

Need information for a class paper or media interview?

• Media Interview: If you are a member of the media and want an interview on suicide prevention please contact Dr. Jane Bost at (512)475-6914.
• Class paper: If you are interested in interviewing our Suicide Prevention Coordinator for a class paper, please contact Marian E. Trattner, MSW at 475-6962.
• Media Recommendations: "Suicide is a public health issue. Media and online coverage of suicide should be informed by using best practices. Some suicide deaths may be newsworthy. However, the way media covers suicide can influence behavior negatively by contributing to contagion or positively by encouraging help-seeking. Suicide Contagion or "Copycat Suicide" occurs when one or more suicides are reported in a way that contributes to another suicide. Click here to read Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide." Quote taken from: Reporting on Suicide.org

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