Mental Health & Suicide Prevention

College life includes significant stressors, and students everywhere experience a variety of challenges to emotional and psychological health. Stress, as well as other mental health issues like anxiety and depression, impact students in a variety of ways. 

In the US…

• The percentage of students experiencing mental health problems has increased nearly 50% since 2013.
• 73% of students reported moderate or severe psychological distress in 2021.
• 60% of college students reported experiencing one or more mental health challenges in 2021.
• 2% of college students surveyed in 2022 said they had attempted suicide in the past year. 15% said they thought about it. 

 

CPO provides students and the campus community with prevention education, outreach activities, and early intervention services around mental health and suicide prevention, aimed at building awareness, insight, and connections and promoting resilience and the ability to respond effectively to a mental health crisis. 

Workshops and community events dispel myths and misconceptions related to mental illness and empower students to make healthy decisions related to their emotional and psychological wellness, with an emphasis on reducing stigma around asking for help and improving access to the resources available to all students at Stony Brook. 

• Screenings and brief interventions for stress,  anxiety, and depression.
• Skill-building series to expand coping strategies and ability to adapt to challenges.
• Peer-led spaces workshops as well as expert series presentations from community experiences.
• Mindful Moments peer-led brief mindfulness-based activities to reduce stress.
• Opportunities to connect with others and engage in creative coping activities through Healing Arts.

Suicide Prevention at SBU

CPO offers campus-wide initiatives designed to increase awareness about warning signs for suicide, strategies for intervening to make a difference, and resources for help, including QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) bystander intervention training.

SBU’s annual Walk of Hope, the core of our campus Suicide Prevention Awareness Month activities, offers all members of the campus community a chance to unite and show their commitment to preventing suicide and supporting those who have been impacted by it.

HOPE Committee

The HOPE Committee is a team of individuals and departments working together to bring awareness to mental health and suicide prevention on campus.  The HOPE committee works collaboratively to promote learning and engagement opportunities to support the mental health and wellness of our community. The committee currently includes members from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and other aspects of the campus ecosystem, including the East and West and Southampton campuses.

If you are a professional staff person or faculty interested in getting involved with The Hope Committee, please contact - Melissa J. Woody, LMSW, at melissa.woody@stonybrook.edu.