UConn adviser wants to change suicide statistics

Although he is the faculty adviser for one of the newest Active Minds chapters in the country, Barry Schreier and his core group of 20 students have made waves in Washington, D.C.

The group was formed nearly one year ago by Schreier and an undergraduate student working together.

Schreier, the University of Con-necticut’s director of counseling and mental health services, was named the Washington, D.C.-based Active Minds’ “Adviser of the Year.”

According to Schreier, Active Minds is a national organization that not only has chapters in the United States, but also has chapters in Canada and Australia.
The group’s national web site states Active Minds is “the only organization working to utilize the student voice to change the conversation about mental health on college campuses.”

There are currently 236 chapters in existence.

Schreier said he was nominated by students who are part of the local group and was happy to have been selected by headquarters officials in the country’s capital.

“I’m very pleased,” said Schreier of receiving the award.

He said he helped form the group because he thought it was important to give students as many opportunities for assistance as possible.

In addition to wanting to offer various counseling services, Sch-reier said the group helps combat two staggering statistics that he thinks about constantly.

The first is that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students.

“That makes it an epidemic,” he said, adding if suicide were a disease, the National Guard would likely come out and try to stop it.

The second statistic is less than 20 percent of the students who eventually kill themselves sought counseling before doing so.

“If there’s that big a rate of death and if they’re talking to someone, but not us, who are they talking to?” he said.

While he does not know how many people were nominated for the award — which is awarded annually — Schreier said he thought he received it because of the university’s relationship with UConn’s mental health services and counseling department.

“It’s not typical for chapters to be so closely aligned to the campus counseling center,” he said.

He said the group’s work is an extension of services offered by counseling professionals on campus.

The message is the same, but the medium it is delivered through is different.
Schreier said it is the combination of student training and motivation to succeed that makes the group a success.

“There’s nowhere for this group to go but up,” he said, adding his main duties include looking at the “bigger picture” of the group and ensuring they are staying within university rules and regulations.