UHS May Launch Study of Suicide

The University Health Services may undertake a study of suicide based on data it has collected regarding undergraduates who have committed or attempted suicide.

The study would involve the analysis of interviews and psychological tests made of students who have made suicide gestures, in an attempt to discern consistent patterns.

Richard M. Segal, associate psychologist to UHS, said yesterday that the study is still in its "embryonic" stage, but that if it is conducted, it will represent primarily applied research.

He explained that the psychiatry and psychology divisions will endeavor to determine the relation between attempts and completions, how to find potential suicides, and what modes of intervention might be attempted to avert suicides.

He emphasized that the data that would be collated would be the standard interviews and diagnostic tests given to all students who make suicide gestures.

No Suicides This Year

UHS interest in undertaking the study was presumably precipitated by the five undergraduate and graduate suicides of the 1971-72 academic year. There have been no undergraduate suicides this year.

Segal said that although on the national level the suicides predominate in April, the winter months are the high-risk season at Harvard.

Few comparative standardized studies of suicide on American campuses have been made, Segal said. However, he cited a 1961 British study that concluded that suicide rates were no higher for college students than for non-college students of the same age, but that rates were higher at prestigious universities (Oxford and Cambridge) than at less selectives ones.

Segal said he would like to see a study of the "nature and lethality" of suicide attempts conducted at several universities.

He said that standard typology and data analysis and at least a decade would be requisite to any fair comparative analysis.

The suicide rate in this country used to be linearly related to age, Segal said. But he added that suicides in the 14-to-19-year age range have become more frequent.

Segal added that although national statistics show that there are about 20,000 suicides annually, many other suicides are concealed by coroners' reports and still others remain unconfirmed.

He concluded that a figure two to three times higher than the one ordinarily given would be a more realistic estimate.

Segal said that for over a century, suicides at Harvard were particularly low in wartime, and relatively high in eras of economic depression.

Hopelessness

It is difficult to determine the intent of most suicide gestures, Segal said. He cited the feeling of "hopelessness" as the "key variable" in suicide attempts. However, he added that most individuals who make unsuccessful attempts are subsequently "relieved that they were saved" and do not try it again.

He noted that although women outnumber men in suicide attempts by three to one. However, men outnumber women in completions by the same proportion, he said.