Suicide Prevention

Suicide Prevention Strategies for College Students Based on UMMEED Guidelines

1. Build and use peer support networks
   Join or form study groups, clubs, and interest-based associations so you have supportive friends to talk to regularly, much like the peer support and group activities recommended in the guidelines. These networks reduce isolation and create early informal checkpoints when someone is not okay.
   
   

2. Actively participate in stress‑relief and well‑being activities on campus
   Make use of yoga, meditation, music, art, sports, gardening or similar clubs and events that your college offers, mirroring the guideline’s suggestion of regular relaxation activities to handle exam pressure, transitions and personal stress.
   
   

3. Use formal channels for expression and help‑seeking
   Treat college counsellors, mentoring cells, grievance/help boxes, or online reporting forms as your primary channels when you feel overwhelmed, bullied, humiliated or persistently sad, just as school students are guided to approach counsellors and suggestion boxes.
   
   

4. Learn to recognise your own warning signs early
   Watch for patterns in yourself such as persistent sadness, hopelessness, feeling like a burden, sudden anger, extreme tiredness, withdrawal from friends, decline in academics, or changes in sleep and appetite—the same categories of feelings, behaviours and actions listed as warning signs for students at risk.
   
   

5. Look out for warning signs in friends and classmates
   If you notice a peer becoming very withdrawn, returning belongings, repeatedly talking about “not being around”, posting about self‑harm, neglecting appearance, or suddenly losing interest in classes and activities, treat these like the warning signs described in the guidelines and take them seriously.
   
   

6. Respond calmly and stay with a friend in distress
   When a college friend shares suicidal thoughts or appears on the verge of self‑harm, follow the same calm, non‑judgmental approach: stay with them, listen, address them by name, avoid panicking or arguing, and gently help them get to a college counsellor, hostel warden, trusted faculty member or medical help.
   
   

7. Immediately seek help if someone is attempting self‑harm
   If you encounter a student actively trying to harm themselves, do what the guidelines advise school stakeholders: stay calm, try to remove or distance potential means of harm without force if it is safe to do so, keep talking to them, and urgently alert campus authorities, hostel staff, or the counselling/medical team rather than leaving them alone.
   
   

8. Engage in mental‑health awareness and anti‑stigma events on campus
   Participate in or help organise talks, street plays, poster campaigns, exhibitions, theme days or rallies that normalise conversations around anxiety, depression, failure, and suicide, similar to the suggested role plays, nukkad nataks, posters and rallies in the document.
   
   

9. Maintain healthy routines and self‑care habits
   As the guidelines highlight protective factors like hobbies, sports, creative activities, engagement with studies and positive self‑esteem, college students can protect themselves by keeping regular sleep, physical activity, meaningful hobbies, balanced academic effort, and time with supportive people.
   
   

10. Reach out during high‑stress phases instead of withdrawing
    During exams, results, re‑joining after a break, switching courses, facing harassment, or dealing with family and financial problems, remember that these are recognised “critical periods” in the guidelines; proactively talk to friends, faculty, mentors, or counsellors instead of trying to handle everything alone or disappearing from classes and activities.