Suicide in Tsukuba University students, 1974-2002

In this report, the author presents circumstances surrounding suicide in university students through the analysis of cases of suicide in Tsukuba University students. The subjects were 52 students (38 undergraduate, 14 graduate; 34 males, 18 females) who had committed suicide from 1974 to 2002. The average suicide rate was 18.6 per 100000, which was less than that of university students a few decades ago. The rate among liberal arts students was higher than that among science students. The number of victims increased later in the school year, and suicides among senior grades were higher. The peaks were distributed in September and March in a school years and on Tuesdays in a week. About 80% of the suicides used hanging and jumping from a height. Hanging was the most common method in both sexes, and the rate of hanging was higher in male than in female. The rate of jumping and overdose or drug was higher in female than in male. Of the 52 subjects, 16 (about 30%) had visited the outpatients clinic in the university health service center. Their clinical diagnosis was clearly divided into schizophrenic disorder and mood disorder. There was a history of suicide attempt in a half of the subjects, half of which, furthermore, had attempted suicide more than once. About half of them committed suicide less than two weeks after the last clinical visit. There might be some possible explanations for this overlooking of potential suicides, including remission of vigilance, difficulty in diagnosis and difficulty in cultivating rapport. Furthermore, suicide victims had less tendency to think of themselves as cheerful than control subjects at the point of entrance. Taking these results into consideration, the author made a few suggestions regarding suicide prevention in university students.