A new federal grant is allowing Troy campuses to implement suicide prevention and reduction programs.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has provided the Garrett Lee Smith Grant to Troy University.
This grant will provide funds for six years of suicide prevention and education across all four Alabama Troy campuses.
“Suicide prevention is paramount for our state,” said Dr. Sherrionda Crawford, department chair for the counseling, rehabilitation and interpreter training at Troy University. “Figuring out how to either reduce or eliminate lethal means is key to preventing a suicide.”
Crawford highlighted the importance of mental health resources in suicide prevention.
“We deal with a lot of stressors – academic stress, financial stress, relational stress – that could lead to having suicidal ideations,” Crawford said.
“College is a big step for a lot of our students.
“It is that first taste of independence that brings on its own stressors with being organized, managing time, and so forth.”
Crawford wants students to know that resources are always available for students to get help, such as the free student counseling center.
“The counseling department exists in Hawkins Hall, and we have a ton of resources that we can share with students, faculty or staff,” Crawford said. “There are brochures around campus with resource information for many areas in Alabama.
“We also have a website, mhrsp.org, that has local and national resources listed on it for suicide prevention.”
Kanessa Doss, an associate professor of psychology and the director of operations for the college of education on the Montgomery campus, said they hold suicide prevention events to support those in need.
“We have educators come in and talk about prevalent issues for suicide prevention on college campuses throughout the United States and what we can do to prevent suicide and what we can do to intervene if there's a situation,” Doss said.
“It’s just great information for faculty, students, as well as the community.
“We want to emphasize this not just for faculty and staff, it's also for students and the community.We are excited to bring this to all campuses because it's such a much-needed topic.”
In May, the program will be holding a suicide screening event on campus.
“Suicide prevention is important to help out with the mental health of all of our students,” said Sgt. Rachel Farmer, TUPD police officer.
“We want to be sure that no one has those thoughts and if they do, that we can provide for them the proper means to get help so that we don't have that as a case here.”
Anyone dealing with a mental health crisis can call 988, the national suicide and crisis lifeline.
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