Here at Meg’s Legacy, we want to be a voice to destigmatize mental health issues and raise awareness. It is important to find a path to strengthen the mind when dealing with challenges in today’s society.
We are now featuring an educational article in our newsletters, and this first one is written by Dr. Beth Sherman, Psy.D. As an ambassador at Meg’s Legacy, Beth shares this helpful and timely article for all parents with college-aged children.
Dr. Beth Sherman, Psy.D. is an ambassador at Meg’s Legacy.
MENTAL HEALTHINESS AT COLLEGE
College visits can be both exciting and daunting. Parents and teens look at a variety of factors to determine which college might be the best fit. An important topic typically overlooked while selecting a school is the availability of mental health resources.
Rates of anxiety and depression are at an all-time high. The majority of college students (more than 60 percent) meet the criteria for at least one mental health problem, which is nearly 50 percent higher than 2013, according to The Healthy Minds survey.
During campus visits, there may be a brief mention of the counseling center, which reassures any parent that if their child ever has a need, help is “readily available.” The unsettling truth is that college counseling centers are more overwhelmed and understaffed than ever. It’s not unusual for students to wait weeks to get in, and when they do, they are limited to the number of sessions they can have per semester or per school year.
College counseling centers are geared towards crisis management, but what happens when your student has used up their allotted visits but is still struggling? What if they have to wait while in crisis, or if the waiting causes even more anxiety?
You may consider these questions regarding the potential need for counseling at college:
- How long is the average wait time to be seen? What about during midterms and finals? How many counselors are on hand?
- What is the protocol if a student needs a higher level of care? Where are they referred?
- Are there emergency or walk-in hours? Is there a psychiatrist on campus? If not, who do they recommend if a student is in need?
- Is there a pharmacy nearby where your child can get medication? Does it take your insurance?
- What is the communication policy with parents? Do they do “wellness checks” if you are concerned about your student and are unable to reach them?
If your student has a history of anxiety, depression or any other mental health issues, establish a relationship with a counselor on or nearby campus. Hopefully your child will never need to see them after the relationship is created, but if there is a crisis, it’s incredibly helpful if the counselor already knows your child’s history. Your child is much more likely to see a therapist that they are already familiar with, if they hit a rough patch. It’s more difficult to muster up the energy and courage to find someone when they are already struggling.
Being proactive also provides an opportunity to work out logistics such as insurance, the option of telehealth or the best way to get back and forth to the provider’s office – whether it’s by bus or Uber. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to find someone in network, who is available and works with your child’s issues, if/when your child is in immediate need of help.
If your child already has a therapist but is going to school out of state, it’s incredibly helpful to sign a release of information so that the current therapist can communicate with their new therapist at school. They will also need to sign a release with the new counselor for them to be able to speak with the home therapist. This helps both counselors get up to speed so the student can constructively work on issues instead of spending the entire session on “catching up” issues as they travel back and forth during winter and summer breaks.
Be careful of online therapy services as there’s no guarantee of confidentiality. Databases have been hacked into. There are numerous articles warning patients and potential patients that patient information has been sold to third party solicitors by online services.
[Resources: (October 1, 2022 APA article: During the 2020–2021 school year, more than 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem, according to The Healthy Minds Study, which collects data from 373 campuses nationwide (Lipson, S. K., et al., Journal of Affective Disorders, Vol. 306, 2022). In another national survey, almost three quarters of students reported moderate or severe psychological distress (National College Health Assessment, American College Health Association, 2021).That rising demand hasn’t been matched by a corresponding rise in funding, which has led to higher caseloads. Nationwide, the average annual caseload for a typical full-time college counselor is about 120 students, with some centers averaging more than 300 students per counselor (CCMH Annual Report, 2021).]
