As the pressures of society accumulate, the stress level of all adolescents increases, drowning youths in a state of despair and looming suicide.

�Leisure is gone�gone only to be replaced by modern standards full of anxiety, stress, and depression.� Such a statement was made 25 years ago by writer George Eliot about leisure being gone, yet it still pertains to today and the many stresses that lead to suicide.

National studies show that during the past 60 years, the overall rate of suicide among adolescents has tripled, making it the second leading cause of death among college age students, behind alcohol-related accidents and injuries.

Why has suicide tripled among college students?

The adjustments from high school to college, high finances of tuition, and the pressure of academics can play a major role in the increase of suicide rates, especially for freshmen who are leaving the comfortability and safety of the school they have become accustomed to for four years, moving away to college where they are strangers in a big campus full of unknown faces.

Chad Muffley, licensed psychologist at Borgess Medical Center, stated that many of the problems college students face are evident before coming to college, which explains why freshmen have higher rates of suicide.

When one is taken from a common environment, such as high school, and thrown into a college where one is in isolation without any friends, family, or familiar surroundings, then one becomes lonely and that loneliness is like a bomb waiting to explode. One low test score, one more Saturday night alone, and suddenly, the bomb goes off, and anxiety and solitude take over.

Yet the suicide rates of graduate students are higher. They account for 32 percent of suicides on campuses. A life of a graduate student is a constant juggling act to pay off school, keep up in academics, and spend time with friends. Thus the graduate students give in to desolation and commit suicide.

However, suicide is not just caused from adjusting to a new environment; it is also caused by other factors as well.

Some evidence shows that anxiety and depression can run in families. According to a 20-year study at Columbia University Medical Center, almost 60 percent of children whose parents and grandparents suffered from depression have a psychiatric disorder.

Suicide can also be caused by seasons of the year. That is called Seasonal Affective Disorder, a depression triggered by winter months, when sunlight is less.

The increase of suicide reveals that our society has inflicted so much pressure to succeed on our generation that sometimes it can be overwhelming. With that pressure and the heightened strain of higher tuition, thanks to the Governor of California, it makes college students want to give up everything and succumb to despair and hopelessness.

Life is hard, life is unfair, and life can throw unforeseen surprises; however, as an adult, one should face life and not acquiesce to its troubles.

By Staff Writer Suzanna Megrabyan