Saturday 12 November 2022 01:17 AM Yale sophomore student, 20, reveals she hid her attempted suicide from college ... trends now
Yale University has been accused of not doing enough to support their students' mental health after a woman who attempted suicide spoke out about the trauma inflicted on her by the college rules.
The female sophomore, known only as S., told The Washington Post that she was struggling while at Yale to come to terms with being raped, at home over the summer holidays, throughout early 2021.
In June 2021 she took an overdose of pills, and recalled coming round and thinking: 'What if Yale finds out?'
Yale's policies mean that students deemed suicidal are not allowed on campus, and must be cared for at home, the paper reported.
To return to class, they must reapply - writing an essay, and sending in letters of recommendation.
Until April this year, they also had to be interviewed by Yale officials and prove their academic worth by taking two courses at another four-year university.
Those who left for mental health reasons also had to demonstrate to Yale that they'd addressed their problems, the paper reported.
Yale denied that students were pressured to leave, saying the students themselves 'almost always' make the decision.
'Occasionally, students take time away from the daily pressures associated with an academic environment and devote full attention and as much time as necessary to recovery,' said Karen Peart, a spokeswoman for the university.
She told DailyMail.com: 'The students themselves are almost always the ones to make that decision; it is rare for students to be required to take time away.
'In these cases, Yale has policies that facilitate a medical withdrawal followed by a return to campus life.
'Medical withdrawals allow students to take time away from Yale to focus on their wellbeing. The vast majority of students who take medical withdrawals are reinstated and return to complete their degrees successfully.'
Yale has reported an 'explosion' in demand for mental health support, with the number of students seeking treatment in 2021 increasing by 90 percent from 2015. On Friday, The Washington Post spoke to dozens of students who said not enough was being done, despite the university's $41 billion endowment
Luchang Wang, a 20-year-old math student, died by suicide in 2015, saying she was terrified of being forced out of Yale
The suicide attempt by S. followed two other high-profile cases at the Connecticut institution.
In 2015, a 20-year-old math major, Luchang Wang, jumped to her death from the Golden Gate Bridge, having left a note saying she was terrified by the prospect of not being readmitted to Yale.
'Dear Yale, I loved being here. I only wish I could've had some time,' she wrote.
'I needed time to work things out and to wait for new medication to kick in, but I couldn't do it in school, and I couldn't bear the thought of having to leave for a full year, or of leaving and never being readmitted. Love, Luchang.'
In March 2021, a second student, Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum, had killed herself on campus after contemplating the consequences of withdrawing from the school, her family said.
She was a freshman at the university, and, struggling with isolation amid the pandemic, had been admitted to hospital with mental health issues - but was haunted by the thought of being forced to withdraw, and losing her place.
'I have attempted suicide 3 times in the past 3 days and have not stopped thinking about it,' she wrote on Reddit on March 16, 2021.
'What do I do? If I go to the hospital
