Northern Michigan University has an archaic policy in place that is not only dangerous but an infringement on students freedom of speech. This policy threatens students with disciplinary action if they disclose self harm or suicidal thoughts to any student who is not "trained" to handle it. This means that students cannot disclose to close friends or even family who attend NMU about these kinds of thoughts. This is incredibly dangerous. Anyone that I know who has suffered from suicidal or self harm thoughts say that talking to a close friend can help them. It may even help them keep from acting on those thoughts. It may also help a friend know if there is an immediate threat to the safety of a student. That student can then help get their friend proper help that they may not have sought on their own.
Before I came to Northern I suffered, and still suffer, from clinical depression. In high school, this escalated to frequent suicidal thoughts and self harm. Without the ability to confide in my friends (my support system) what I was going through I never would've gotten the help I need. There is the possibility that without talking about my thoughts and feelings I wouldn't be around today. This is absolutely frightening when you think about Northern's policy.
Confiding self harm or suicidal thoughts to a close friend also helps build a support system and sense of community. It is very possible that the confident is also suffering from similar thoughts. Knowing that both people are not alone can be very comforting and give both people a higher chance of coping in healthy ways. They can talk about their own coping mechanisms and where they find support and help. This opens up the possibility of students finding the help they need.
Having this policy in place enhances the stigma around self harm and suicidal thoughts as well as mental illness in general. I work with a student organization that, among other things, tries to fight the stigma on various mental illness. Making self harm and suicide something students cannot talk about without the threat of disciplinary action increases the stigma. We need to talk about self harm and suicide more openly to solve the problem. Northern believes that if we refrain from talking about suicide and self harm then less students will act on these thoughts. However, research has shown just the opposite. If we talk about these topics openly, more students can get help and survive these situations.
This policy is also a blatant attack on student's freedom of speech. By threatening students with disciplinary action for talking about their own lives is quite clearly infringing on a students first amendment rights.
Northern did try to clear this up releasing a statement supposedly released in January 2016, however no student reports hearing about it until now. The statement says, "Questions concerning the NMU communication to students with self-harm inclinations were raised in November 2015 and the communication was changed at the beginning of 2016. Last year's campus controversy resulted in a collaborative effort and the creation of the Mental Health and Well-being Taskforce, comprised of campus mental health professionals, student life staff and students. Together they have been working to better serve our students, provide better communication and most importantly, connect students with the needed resources. In short, the August 2016 assertions of the FIRE letter are incorrect."
It supposedly clears up the policy, however, it really doesn't. There is no answer to whether students can now talk about suicidal or self harm thoughts with friends. Students have still reported that Northern is telling them they cannot talk about those thoughts and the University has yet to tell the students differently.
This leaves many students wondering if they can confide in their friends and support system.
