Students turn brainpower toward suicide prevention
After seven suicides in two years, students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are looking for their own solutions to prevent more deaths.
The school unveiled a sweeping plan to bolster mental health last autumn, adding staff psychologists and expanding counseling hours, among other measures. But students have added their own ingenuity in recent months, starting a wave of grassroots projects intended to defuse the stress of campus life before it leads to a crisis.
One group of students launched a texting hotline this month called Lean On Me, letting students chat anonymously with trained student volunteers about anything that's troubling them. Other students plan to install artificial light boxes on campus, meant to treat depression that can take hold during dreary months.
