This fall, North Carolina State University lost four students to suicide. Other colleges, such as Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, and the University of North Carolina, have reported student suicides on the rise. The epidemic of suicide attempts by young people is more than concerning—it’s frightening. For college-aged students, in particular, there has been a sharp increase in suicidal ideation. In fact, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for college students.
Adolescence (age 9 to 25) is a critical period of right brain development, only second to ages 0–3. During adolescence, the brain is pruning all of the excess synapses and cells in a process as critical to mental and emotional health as the burst of growth in the early years. During this period in which the brain is being designed to become what will later be that adult’s brain, stress is the most impactful on development.
