UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SUICIDE: INSPECTING MENTAL HEALTH, SOCIAL EXCLUSION, AND INSTITUTIONAL INFLUENCES

Abstract

This research inspects university students’ perceptions of suicide, focusing on mental health, social exclusion, and institutional roles. Students’suicide rates pose an urgent challenge for higher education settings throughout Pakistan, with incidents such as the suicides of Rushaan Farrukh, Saqib Hussain Hakro, and Ziauddin, a student of Islamia College Peshawar from Dir, highlighting the severity of the issue. The research demonstrates that social exclusion and insufficient student support frameworks are crucial systemic elements that affect student well-being levels. The research fills knowledge voids concerning how mental health subtleties and institutional rules interact with cultural standards to impact students’ experiences. Furthermore, this study intends to create critical intervention information and promote healthy educational spaces; it seeks to identify systemic weaknesses that lead to suicidal thoughts so that useful interventions can be developed. Mixed methods were employed, using structured questionnaires with 100 respondents from Riphah International University, Malakand. The study applied Durkheim’s theory of suicide to the descriptive and inferential statistical evaluation of 100 respondent inputs. Research shows academic pressure together with social exclusion and insufficient institutional backing fundamentally affects students’ mental health. Lastly, the study suggests multiple interventions including counseling service expansion, inclusive promotion, anti-stigma awareness campaigns, and mandatory revisions to academic policies directed at student mental health and resilience improvement.