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Office of Counseling Services. (Myrthel Michel\/FAMUAN)\u00a0<\/p>\n
As September marks Suicide Prevention Month, Florida A&M University is highlighting mental health resources and encouraging students to recognize warning signs, seek support and look out for their peers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alicia Jackson, Ph.D., coordinator of clinical programs at FAMU, emphasized that suicide prevention is especially important for college students, who often encounter academic, financial and family pressures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSuicide prevention is important because suicide is one of the most preventable deaths there is,\u201d Jackson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jackson noted that students struggling with mental health may show changes in behavior such as prolonged sadness, social withdrawal, altered sleeping or eating habits, missed classes and falling behind on assignments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes people suffer in silence,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cBut if they come in contact with someone who has the information they need for coping strategies or where they can get help, it\u2019s going to be a game changer for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dougla-Khan Stancil, a licensed mental health counselor and certified QPR instructor, explained that financial and familial responsibilities can increase the pressures students experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of students are responsible for their people back home,\u201d Stancil said. \u201cAnd so they\u2019re sending money, or paying bills for their parents.\u00a0 They\u2019re helping out their siblings.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stancil said these pressures can lead to anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, social withdrawal\u00a0and difficulty managing daily life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stancil advised students experiencing suicidal thoughts, particularly those with a plan or intent to act, to seek immediate help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Students can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for immediate crisis support. In an emergency, students should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
FAMU\u2019s Office of Counseling Services partners with BetterMynd to provide students with access to online therapy.\u00a0Students must first register on BetterMynd using their FAMU email address, then contact the Office of Counseling Services to request credits before scheduling an appointment. Once credits are added, students can log in and schedule an appointment. Students are responsible for appointments scheduled without available credits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have those services available for you,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cSo there\u2019s no hindrance in the way or a barrier to keep you from seeing someone and receiving the help that you need.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
FAMU is also organizing events focused on Black men\u2019s mental health and well-being.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the age-adjusted suicide rate among non-Hispanic Black people increased 25.2 percent from 2018 to 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stancil leads Man Talk, an open forum for men to discuss mental health, stress and wellness. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we begin looking at it like having a headache or, let\u2019s say, a sprained ankle, those are medical situations that people usually don\u2019t mind getting intervention for,\u201d Stancil said. \u201cMental health is the same.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jackson encouraged men not to let societal expectations about masculinity prevent them from seeking professional support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t hesitate to come to receive counseling just because you think as a man you should be able to handle it,\u201d Jackson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For T\u2019elay Forbes, a FAMU student who has used the university\u2019s counseling services, seeking help has become an important part of managing her mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy therapist really helped talk me through taking rest and being OK with taking care of myself first,\u201d Forbes said. \u201cIt really\u00a0helped me change my lifestyle so that I\u2019m able to balance work at school and my social life better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Forbes also said she lost her cousin, Mycah Tia Lewis, to suicide. She said the experience showed her that mental health struggles are not always visible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lewis was someone Forbes described as loving and well-liked. She said her death was unexpected because she appeared happy to those around her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would just say to be kind to everyone,\u201d Forbes said. \u201cWhen they say to check on your strong friends, it really does mean that you have to be intentional about your circle and making sure that people are OK. Just because they might project something on the outside doesn\u2019t mean that\u2019s how they\u2019re feeling on the inside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Office of Counseling Services. (Myrthel Michel\/FAMUAN)\u00a0 As September marks Suicide Prevention Month, Florida A&M University is highlighting mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-413256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}