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Law & psychiatry: "depressed? Get out!": dealing with suicidal students on college campuses.

Appelbaum PS

Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, #122, New York, New York 10032, USA.

This column examines college and university policies under which students who manifest suicidal ideation are barred from campus, usually by immediate suspension or mandatory withdrawal. Such policies, which appear to be increasing on U.S. campuses, generally reflect administrators' fears of legal liability if students commit suicide on campus. The author reviews two recent cases-Schieszler v. Ferrum College and Shin v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology-that have created a climate of fear among administrators and suggests ways to change blanket policies so that students at low risk of suicide will not be barred from campus and will seek and obtain appropriate treatment.

Published 3 July 2006 in Psychiatr Serv, 57(7): 914-6.
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