Suicide attempts lead U. to stress counseling srvcs.

Two students were sent to the hospital after separate incidents, but both are recovering. and Maureen Tkacik As new details continue to emerge about last weekend's two suicide attempts, University officials urged students to seek help from friends or Penn's counseling services if they are thinking about taking their own life or know of those who might be. A female University student tried to kill herself by drinking a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in High Rise East at around 8:15 p.m. Thursday, according to several sources familiar with the situation. She was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where her stomach was pumped. And early Saturday morning, a disoriented and slightly intoxicated female freshman cut her wrists in an apparent suicide attempt inside her Quadrangle room, sources said. The student voluntarily signed up for psychiatric treatment at HUP, according to police. Both students' current conditions were unavailable last night. University Police officials and Counseling and Psychological Services Director Ilene Rosenstein refused to comment on the specifics of these cases, citing confidentiality requirements, but Rosenstein stressed that students can do a lot to help friends who seem to be suffering from depression. "People often don't know how to respond when people are depressed," Rosenstein said, adding that "it's important that students take it very seriously when people talk about suicide." Residents on the HRE floor where Thursday's incident occurred said they did not know exactly what had happened. The floor's resident adviser declined to comment, as did the occupants of the room in which the incident occurred. No other details were available. In the other incident, the girl was not severely intoxicated and the cuts she inflicted were "superficial" and non life-threatening, two University Police officers close to the situation said. According to the officers, the only reason she gave for attempting suicide was that "life sucks." One of the officers said he believed the girl had been on medication for depression. The officer added that although the student did not want to be hospitalized, police officers are allowed to commit students who attempt suicide to psychiatric treatment for a mandatory three days, at which point a judge can order them to stay longer. If a student decides to voluntarily sign up for psychiatric treatment, he or she can check out shortly afterwards and refuse any treatment. In the aftermath of the incidents, Rosenstein urged students to talk to someone from CAPS or other available counseling groups if they are having problems. "There's help available," Rosenstein stressed. "If you're feeling these things, don't keep them inside. Don't suffer with them privately." CAPS is also available as a service to the friends and hallmates of the two students who attempted suicide, Rosenstein said. The last reported suicide of a University student was 26-year-old Wharton MBA student Elizabeth Kelsey, who killed herself by overdosing on medication in March 1997.