Exploring the UK's Student Suicide Problem

Last year, a University of York student became the fifth to take her own life over a period of 12 months. The number was thought to be the highest seen in a single year at a British university. Last week, news broke that a 19-year-old found dead at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol is believed to have killed himself. His death follows the suspected suicides of five students at Bristol University since September of 2016, but is the first at UWE this year.

In response to the tragedies, all three universities have carried out investigations into how to better support their students' mental health needs, and subsequently pledged extra funding to their services. However, those institutions aren't the only ones seeing increasing numbers of suicides; every single year from 2009 to 2015, more than 100 students across England and Wales have taken their own lives. In 2014 and 2015 respectively, 130 and 134 students killed themselves – the highest figures since records began.

People under 30 generally have the lowest suicide rates, and for men and women across all ages, suicide rates were lower in 2014 than in 2004, 1994 and 1984. So these statistics – the most recent ones available – appear to show something of an epidemic within Britain's student population.

What's behind these tragically high numbers? Each person who takes their own life has a unique set of circumstances that makes them feel compelled to make such a decision, and it would be impossible and irresponsible to speculate on individual cases, but it's important to study the factors affecting the demographic as a whole in order to better tackle the problem.

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Given that York and Bristol have seen this spate of suicides over the last 18 months, it's fairly surprising that both were recently named two of the best places to live in the country. The Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide assessed the locations on a wide range of factors, from jobs on offer, culture and community spirit – and it's safe to say the cities have little in common economically and socially with the UK's suicide hotspots, such as Middlesbrough, Hastings and Blackpool. Both Bristol and York are in the top 20 most affordable places to be a student, so even though young people at the cities' institutions are shouldering the often crushingly heavy burden of £9,000-a-year tuition fees, rent and general living costs are lower than in many other student cities. But while money struggles and concern over massive future debt are causing many students' mental health issues, financial triggers alone don't paint the full picture.

In the US, of the Harvard students who started university last autumn, almost one in five had already received counselling, and the figures suggested the likelihood of counselling increased among students from wealthier families. Like Ivy League institutions, Bristol and York's Russell Group universities are consistently world-class for teaching, "learning experience" and the employability of their graduates. As such, to win a place at either institution you need to have gained straight-As (or thereabouts) for the majority of your A-levels.

As only around one in four UK A-level students achieve A grades, the straight-A students who manage to gain places at York and Bristol are among the most hard-working and academically bright young people in the country. So what happens when these teenagers – having likely pushed themselves immensely to become one of the elite students at their school or college – join a red brick and become one of hundreds to have hit those top grades?

Siobhan O'Neill, professor of mental health sciences at Ulster University, told VICE "There can be a sort of contrast effect, where students are the very best, and then go into an environment where they are 'mediocre'. It's important not to speculate, because we're talking about individuals, but generally, we do find that social perfectionism is associated with suicidal behaviour, particularly among girls. The competition nowadays to achieve in all areas of life – not just academic, but body image and many other things – come together with social media and create this perfect storm where a person can feel that they are failing. In fact, from the outside, it looks like they are really successful, but it's their perception that they haven't achieved what they want to, or aren't achieving in comparison to their peers.

"There are all sorts of other factors as well. Most people who do die by suicide have mental health problems, and we can't ignore that. Sometimes substances can play a part with young people's suicides in a way that it wouldn't for older people, and there can be an impulsivity to the suicides, depending on the method that's used. Then there's the fact that when you get a suicide in a certain environment, there can be a cluster effect depending on the way that suicide is discussed. It can sometimes be glamourised and seem more appealing to individuals – though it's very difficult to prove that suicides are related, and we can get random co-occurrences of suicides that aren't.

"The main message is that we try and encourage students to seek support, and acknowledge that university is a difficult time for a lot of people. It can be a really exciting time, but it can also be really, really difficult, where they face so many pressures. It's so incredibly sad when people who seemingly have lots going for them feel that they need to end their life in this way."

Tom Madders, campaigns director for Young Minds, the country's leading charity on mental health issues for young people, stressed the importance of students being able to reach out for help on campus if they're struggling to cope, saying: "We also need to do more to promote good mental health at a younger age. Schools have a crucial role to play in helping children and teenagers learn to deal with challenges, but at the moment the education system is fundamentally unbalanced, with an over-emphasis on exams and a lack of focus on wellbeing. That's why we're calling on the next government to ensure that schools have the resources and recognition they need to promote good mental health."

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@sophiarahman