In an article entitle, Off to College Alone, Shadowed by Mental Illness, the New York Times details the stories of some students who have a difficult time making the transition from high school and home to college and dorm life:

The transition from high school to college, from adolescence to legal adulthood, can be tricky for any teenager, but for the increasing number of young people who arrive on campus with diagnoses of serious mental disorders — and for their parents — the passage can be particularly fraught.

Standard struggles with class schedules, roommates, and sexual and social freedom are complicated by decisions about if or when to use campus counseling services, whether or not to take medication and whether to disclose an illness to friends or professors.

Keeping a psychiatric disorder under control in an environment often fueled by all-night cram sessions, junk food and heavy drinking is a challenge for even the most motivated students. In addition, the normal separation that goes along with college requires new roles and boundaries with parents, the people who best know the history and contours of their illness.

It’s a good article, long but worth the read. Especially if you’re a student who has just embarked on the college journey, or a parent who has a child that may be grappling with a mental health issue such as depression or bipolar disorder.

Most colleges and universities have good counseling centers on campus that can deal with most mental health and study issues, even cases of depression or bipolar disorder. The key is to know the signs of these things, acknowledge you may have a problem when you notice them impacting your life, and go see a counselor to get help for it.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, PsyD (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has 4 comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

EBDblog » EBD goes to college (12/10/2006)

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 9 Dec 2006
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.