Many college students across the country struggle with anxiety and depression.
The reasons for the high rate of psychological problems range from ages 18 to 22 being a peak time for the first presentation of certain mental health issues to college being the first time many kids live and try to function away from home while having to perform at a high level.
College provides a wonderful opportunity to learn, grow, socialize and find oneself. It also comes with ample temptation and access to alcohol and drugs and social pressures to belong and to be sexual. If a young adult is already struggling, these temptations can cause that individual to become self-destructive, suffer more and function less. More kids are leaving school because they cannot manage or because the school, worried about their safety, has asked them to leave.
[See: 7 Health Risks of Binge Drinking You Can’t Ignore.]
Summer is an important time to assess if your child is truly ready to live independently, and if not, to institute a plan that will allow them to do so responsibly. In the name of love, many parents do so much for their children — including smoothing the way and preventing mistakes or failures — that kids don’t develop skills to live independently or to be able cope with disappointment and failure.
Does your child get themselves to the doctor as needed, go to teachers to discuss a problem and take initiative to meet new people? Can he wash his own clothes, make his own food, take his own medication and balance his own budget? As a parent, stepping away and transferring control to your child builds her confidence that she can take care of herself. Let her fail now, so she can figure out how to handle failure before dealing with problems that can be much larger and more difficult to negotiate.
Children who have had plenty of practice at home fending for themselves, building social skills and recovering from making mistakes or disappointments will be better equipped and, more importantly, know they are better equipped, to weather their college years.
[Read: Take the Bubble Wrap Off Your Child.]
What to Do If Your College Kid Is Having Emotional Difficulties
If your college kid is struggling with emotional difficulties, the best-case-scenario is that you can help your child find resources where they’re at to support them and treat them while at school. It’s better that they remain in school while getting help as long as they are not having any thoughts of suicide, are not abusing drugs or alcohol and are able to continue to function adequately and take care of themselves.
Connecting with college mental health services is a fine place to start. Often a student can get a mental health evaluation and receive therapy and, if needed, medication without leaving campus. However, if mental health professionals on campus are only able to provide a few sessions, you may need to ask for referrals to local practitioners so your child can be seen more frequently for a longer period of time to feel better. If however your child is thinking about suicide (and you should make sure to ask them about this), is not getting out of bed, is not going to classes, is regularly using substances or seems to be losing touch with reality, these are red flags that a child needs to be seen by a professional immediately and should come home.
The numbers of kids coming home has grown large enough that the NewYork-Presbyterian Youth Anxiety Center in New York City started the Launching Emerging Adulthood Program to help them. Treatment offered through the program includes group therapy for 18- to 23-year-olds that focuses on rehearsing life skills with peers in a setting where they can gain feedback and not feel alone. The program also takes these young adults out into the community to build social skills, such as asking for a job, ordering food and sending something back and being assertive, which can be very difficult for young adults with anxiety, especially social anxiety.
[See: 9 Things to Do or Say When a Loved One Talks About Taking Their Life.]
Shannon Bennett, who is the director of psychology in the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at the center, reports that when college students struggle with social anxiety — the most common of the anxiety disorders the center sees — it makes college adjustment increasingly difficult. Treating this issue, according to Bennett, helps a student return to school with a much higher likelihood of integrating and finding success.
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What to Do When Kids Fail to Thrive in College originally appeared on usnews.com
