WASHINGTON

The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Northern Illinois University shootings have garnered much media attention, but suicide is a larger threat to the nation’s college students, said a panel at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in Washington.

“The big issue at universities is suicide, not homicide,” said Dr. Steven S. Sharfstein, chair of the symposium entitled “The Social Responsibility of Universities for the Mental health of Students and Community Safety.”

In hopes of preventing suicide among students there has been an increased demand for mental health services on college campuses around the country, said Dr. Jerald Kay, co-chair of the panel. “One of the clear findings from all the surveys is that more and more of our students are asking for help, and more of our students are matriculating now into universities and colleges with previous, rather significant psychiatric histories,” he said at the meeting, which is being held May 3-8 in Washington.

Over the last 15 years depression has nearly doubled in the United States, while suicidal behavior has tripled and sexual assaults have quadrupled, Kay added.

This increased demand is stretching many campus counseling centers to the limit, Kay noted. “We’re dealing with problems that are really widespread in a time when resources have not kept up, and this has been one of the challenges we have had to face,” he said.

A lack of resources is leaving many students with limited on-campus mental health support, Kay said. “At least 40 percent or greater of our schools do not have psychiatric services whatsoever.”

Alison Malmon, founded Active Minds, an organization that utilizes peer groups to form student-run support groups and advocacy campaigns to decrease the stigma associated with mental illness. Her older brother, Brian, committed suicide after being diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder while attending Columbia University.