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27 Medico-Legal J. 1 (1959)

handle is hein.journals/medlgjr27 and id is 1 raw text is: EDITORIAL STUDENT SUICIDE FROM the University of Cambridge Sir Alan Rook has produced a thoughtful article on suicides in students (Brit. Med. J., (1959), 1, 599). This occasioned a certain stir and correspondence in the national press. During the decade 1948-58 there were fourteen suicides in Cambridge under- graduates. This represents an incidence three times as great as in the comparable general population. Sir Alan points out that it is easy to draw erroneous conclusions from so few cases. This is true, but it is, fortunately, not possible to produce a larger series of cases-they simply are not there to analyse. The figures may be small, but there is an inherent probability of a high suicide rate among students. The vulnerability of higher social groups is well established and undergraduates clearly come in this category. Intensive mental activity enhances awareness of one's circumstances and there are many factors in a student life which produce stress. The sudden change from an organized school curriculum to the freedom of university study is likely to produce insecurity and lack of sense of direction. In many cases there is deprivation of parental support and it has been suggested in this connection that students in London, and other universities where home life continues, may be less suicide prone for this reason. A feeling of financial dependence, first on the parents and, more broadly, on the community, weighs heavily on some, and can only be partly mitigated by financial grants. The undergraduate period is spent at a time when sexual activity should be at its height and, while libido may be sublimated to some extent, it cannot be misdirected indefinitely without considerable stress. Finally, there is the ever present examination anxiety. Sir Alan Rook regards this as a potent influence in suicide. These considerations all suggest that an enhanced suicide rate amongst students must be accepted as a temporary occupational risk. There is a great danger of provoking an emotional interest disproportionate to the importance of the problem. Thousands of us have graduated without realizing we were under any unusual strain and been none the worse for it. We have accepted examination worry in a wryly humorous way-and had bigger responsibilities since without breaking down. Sir Alan's article shows that the suicide rate in Cambridge undergraduates from 1928-38 was somewhat higher than 1948-58, and that in 1938-48 it was increased, so the problem is not a growing one. The single cause of student death greater than suicide is accident, and this may reflect a basic insecurity in the student, leading him to dangerous exploits and un- necessary risks, which in many cases are suicide equivalents. It is hoped that increased attention to early recognition of mental ill health may effect a reduction in suicide. This is an admirable aim, but it is possible to become over-preoccupied with mental disorder as a major cause. At least as much interest should be shown in the complex of small stresses, particularly the feeling of subjective excommunication which may come from the above mentioned sources of strain. A strong feeling of integration with a group is, perhaps, more to be desired than attempts to recognize and treat minor psychological disturbances in introspective and immature individuals. ACCIDENTAL COAL GAS POISONING THE recent winter brought forth the usual seasonal rise in deaths from accidental coal gas poisoning. On February 17, 1959, a questioner in the Commons asked

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