Codrea Rado Palatinate
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Transcript of Codrea Rado Palatinate
8/3/2019 Codrea Rado Palatinate
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/codrea-rado-palatinate 1/1
ISSUE 9 of The Sanctuary (13
November 2007) contained
an article documenting the at-
tempted suicide of a Durham
student. Student attacks police
explicitly outlined the troubled
personal circumstances the stu-
dent was dealing with at the
time, and the possible motiveshe had for attempting to end his
life.
Disturbingly, the focus of the
article was not concern for a fel-
low student who had felt driven
to throw himself into the Wear
for whatever personal reason,
but rather that he had hurled
abuse at police officers. Thevery title of the article clearly
demonstrated that this was not
an exploration of the issue of
suicide in the university but
rather an account of an abusive
student. The nature of the article
exemplifies a neglect of a much
more disturbing problem.
First and foremost, one should
not overlook the article’s obvi-
ous mistakes. I am curious to
know how the student managed
to appear “at Consett Mag-
istrates’ Court on 6 October,where he pleaded guilty”, and
then go on to attempt to “drown
himself in the River Wear on
a boozy night out on October
16th”.
Perhaps The Sanctuary will be
able to tell me how he has man-
aged to successfully bend the
space-time continuum, so that I
will be able to write my essays
before they have been set.
Furthermore, the photograph
which accompanies the arti-
cle was a highly questionable
choice. It is clear that it was
carefully chosen to reinforce the
paper’s depiction of the student
as a “foul-mouthed” lout.
Suicide and attempted suicide
is an issue which plagues all
universities, Durham being no
exception to the rule. The sui-
cide charity group Papyrus, who
focus mainly on the prevention
of suicide amongst young adultsand teenagers, outline the par-
ticular vulnerability of students
in their campaign.
Papyrus’ publications deal
with the many issues that face
students in their transition to
university and offer support
for coping with problems they
may face. Nationwide, studentsstruggle with difficulties rang-
ing from debt to relationship
troubles and some feel so over-
whelmed that suicide appears to
be the only way to escape their
problems.
The work of NightLine goes
a long way in offering support
for students; however it seems
to me that what lies at the heart
of the issue is an attitude within
the student community of keep-
ing feelings hidden.
University life is hectic, expec-tations are high, and pressure is
exerted from all quarters, in the
form of academic demands as
well as by friends and relatives.
Often the students who have
worked the hardest to achieve
their goals are those who prove
least likely to admit that they
are having trouble managing.
Attention needs to be drawn to
the importance of recognising
the symptoms of mental issues
and promoting suicide preven-
tion for those suffering beyond
their power to cope.
The problem lies not in the
lack of availability of support,
but in the prevailing attitude
towards the subject of mental
health and suicide. Although
help is available from the Uni-
versity for those who directly
need assistance, there is a lesser
emphasis on the importance of
an awareness of the symptomsof mental health issues in other
people.
Papyrus’ campaign focuses on
providing university staff and
students with information about
recognising the symptoms of
emotional distress in order to
prevent such issues developing
into serious mental health com-plications.
Durham University is one of
the few collegiate institutions in
the country; the idea of being a
part of a College should extend
beyond simply being a member
of a sports team and should in-
stead foster a more deep-rooted
sense of community spirit and
mutual support. Every one of us
has an obligation to our fellow
students. I do not insist on be-
friending every person on one’s
corridor; what is more impor-
tant is the ability to understand
the difficulties that others may
be facing and how to help themhelp themselves.
The issues surrounding
suicide resonate particularly
strongly at this time of year. The
holiday season presents many
people with further struggles
owing to financial and family
obligations. For students, spe-
cifically new undergraduates,the holiday time can be difficult
because the winter vacation is
often their first trip home.
Coming home can seem like
an escape from university prob-
lems, making it all the more
difficult to return in the New
Year. Furthermore, many stu-
dents find it difficult to admitany problems they are having to
their parents.
It is a mistake not to confront
the issue head on, as not talking
about suicide only further en-
courages its descent into taboo
and makes it increasingly dif-
ficult to discuss openly. Suicide
happens within a universitycontext and therefore, as a com-
munity, affects all of us.
The student community has
a responsibility to one another
to recognise issues affecting its
members and to establish an
environment in which students
feel able to talk about their is-
sues and ask for help.
It is the lack of compassion
on The Sanctuary’s part that is
most shocking. Considering the
prevalence of suicide among
students, the entire article was
irresponsible and presented in
extremely bad taste.