Stress is mounting for students at post-secondary schools across Ontario.
With exam time fast approaching they’re juggling final assignments worth hefty chunks of their final marks; time needs to be set aside to study for the big finale and the ability to socialize and blow off steam is almost nil. The pressure is immense.
Staff at the University of Guelph are keenly aware of those pressures. Four of its students have committed suicide on campus this year; all of them within a two-month span between November and January.
READ MORE: University of Guelph officials check on mental health of students in aftermath of suicides
“There’s just a lot of stuff piled up at the same time,” first-year molecular biology and genetics student Stephanie Billings told Global News.
“We have about four or five projects due in the next week and a half.”
It can be especially rough on freshmen; far away from home for the first time.
“It was pretty hard to adjust to, it’s kind of weird not seeing your family every day and it could take a toll on you if you’re really close to your family,” Billings’ teammate on the school’s dance team Isabelle Foley said.
VIDEO: Four students at the University of have committed suicide since November. Mark Carcasole reports.
“I write a lot of music,” added Joshua Samaehin a third-year psychology student and a grizzled veteran of the university grind. “I just take time to myself to make sure I’m good and I’m always relaxed and I’m calm.”
Mental health experts always urge those suffering from anxiety and suicidal thoughts to come forward and seek help, but admit that due to the stigma attached to mental health issues, many are afraid.
That’s why staff and faculty at the University of Guelph are proactively going to students instead. Right to their doors.
The school has resurrected a program it calls “House Calls,” which saw professors and support staff go door-to-door in the school’s various residences to see how students are doing and to let them know there is help available.
READ MORE: University of Guelph student petitions school to do more in wake of 4 student suicides
“Going to something sometimes is a barrier for students,” Associate Residence Life Director Patrick Kelly said.
“Being able to put a human face to the supports that we offer and for somebody to just have a conversation with an individual about what those supports are, I think there’s some benefit there.”
Staff also gave students they visited flyers to clearly tell them where and how to seek assistance.
First-year Animal Biology student Olivia Owens admits adjusting to university life hasn’t been easy.
She is one of the students who got a knock on her door last week. Both the desk and the bed in her dorm are cluttered with boards and notes as she crafts together her final assignments.
She said the visit from her prof and support staff reminded her that “other students are having the same problems.”
“It’s definitely helping,” she said. “And having the sheet that they give me, it’s right in front me, here are your resources, you can get help if you want.”
Her fellow freshman across the hall, Nathalie Marchissio is studying Biological Science. She wishes the program were in place last semester, when they first experienced the rigours of exam time.
READ MORE: Ontario youth with mental illness waiting months for help, auditor general finds
House Calls was a three-day program that wrapped last week. Residence Life officials suggest the effort would lose its effectiveness if it were run all year.
The university hopes to bring the program back next year, and is considering all feedback.
While the school hopes House Calls will encourage more students who need help to seek it out, they’ve also previously admitted that keeping up with all those who do can be a struggle.
READ MORE: Post-secondary students feel stress, anxiety, have suicidal thoughts: survey
A 2013 survey of 30,000 students by the Canadian Organization of University and College Health showed that 90 per cent of respondents reported feeling overwhelmed with their responsibilities, 50 per cent felt hopeless, while 63 per cent felt very lonely.
Perhaps most troubling, 9.5 per cent of respondents said they’d seriously considered suicide, while 1.3 per cent had actually attempted it.
Guelph isn’t the only Ontario university to see a sudden spike in on-campus suicides this year.
The University of Waterloo has had two students take their own lives in the last three months.
An online petition to urge the school to do more for students’ mental health received 15,000 pledges and prompted the school to launch an advisory committee on the topic.
University of Guelph counselling services and other supports available to students:
Student Counselling Services, Ext. 53244
Student Support Network (drop-in hours are noon to 10 p.m., Monday to Friday, Raithby House)
Good2Talk Helpline, 1-866-925-5454
Employee Assistance Program for faculty and staff, Ext. 52133
Multi-Faith Resource Team, Ext. 52392
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