UNI DEATH TOLL RISE
A RECORD toll of students are committing suicide – and the number quitting university with mental health problems has more than trebled.
A total of 143 students aged 18 and over killed themselves in England and Wales last year, nearly 50 per cent more than the 97 who took their lives in 2013.
Victims included five Bristol University students who died within a few months of each other last year – three in their teens and their first term at college. The Office of National Statistics figures were disclosed as more freshers start college this month.
Last week a Sunday People probe revealed how students are using the Dark Web to buy anti-depressant tablets.
We bought 30 Prozac pills for £25. They arrived without dosage directions and warnings about side-effects.
A record 1,180 suffering mental health problems quit university in 2014-15, a 210 per cent increase on the 380 in 2009-10, data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows.
The number seeking counselling at university has risen by 50 per cent in recent years as teens struggle to cope with leaving home and managing finances.
Samaritans Education Manager Karen Harvey said: “We need to look at tackling these issues earlier in life, for example as part of the school curriculum.”