Your child is ready to start the college search process. But you are worried. Your child has suffered with depression, anxiety, or some other mental health issue. He managed to get through high school, with few scars, but only because the resources were nearby, plentiful, and appropriate to his needs.
You want your child to go to college, and he wants to go. He has the grades to succeed, has good social skills, but is he emotionally ready? You have had the discussion with him and his therapist, and everyone agrees that he should go, as long as he has supports. Thus starts your homework. Your child may be able to help, but this task is more a parental one.
Step 1. As your child makes his college list, you need to check into the support services available. All colleges have counseling centers, but not all provide the same supports. You need to call each college to inquire about their counseling services. Questions to ask may include who qualifies for services, how the student accesses services, what the qualifications of the staff are, what the fees are, what the confidentiality policy entails, if there is a psychiatrist on staff who can prescribe and manage medication, if there is a crisis hotline and response team, and what other outside resources are available. Some of this information may be found on the college website, but for clarifications or specifics, it is best to call.
Step 2. Once your child has been accepted and has decided to attend a specific college, you need to make arrangements for his mental health needs at that institution. You and your child should make a visit to the counseling center together, before school starts, to put an action plan in place. Colleges expect students to be self-advocates, however most counseling centers will include the parent in the initial meeting, if the student agrees. You should discuss what services he is receiving at home and try to find a similar regiment at college.
Step 3. If the college counseling center does not have a psychiatrist/therapist on staff, you will need to find out where one is located, near the college and convenient for your child. Your child’s psychiatrist/therapist should be able to make a recommendation for a local contact or the college counseling center should be able to give you a list of recommended professionals.
Step 4. Before your child starts college, perhaps sometime in the summer, he should visit with his hometown therapist and/or psychiatrist. Part of their discussion should include medication management, storage of medications, how the therapist can be contacted, if you child needs to talk to him, and how to deal with emergencies.
Step 5. Your child should know how to refill his medications on time, unless you decide to take charge of this task. Make sure you find a local pharmacist, convenient for your child, to pick up his medications. Or if you use a mail order pharmacy, make sure you keep track of when it is shipped and notify your child when to check his mailbox at college.
Step 6. Buy your child a small safe to store his medications. Medications should be locked in a safe at all times, within the dorm room, only accessed by your child, and never shared with others.
Step 7. This should really be Step 1, because your child should be taking his medications independent from your reminders. However, if you are still reminding him, now is the time for him to develop this skill, since no one at college will do the reminding. After discussion, he may decide to set an alarm for each medication, using his cell phone, IPOD, or other device.
Step 8. And speaking of technology, make sure your child has 911 programmed into his cell phone, along with contacts of his various therapists.
Step 9. Before he goes to college, you should have several discussions about what to do in an emergency, how to contact the appropriate therapists, the importance of taking medications on time and the consequences of not following the medication regime, the benefits of seeing a therapist in the counseling center or within the local neighborhood, and that you are there to support him, whenever he needs you.
Colleges deal with numerous students who have mental health issues. Making the transition to college, facing multiple exams, dealing with new social dilemmas, or trying to balance problems at home with new expectations at college, students often need to reach out for help. Countless students are successfully navigating the changes, but we as parents want to make sure the path is a smoother and empower our children with the right tools to succeed, despite their own obstacles.
