Did you have a DC return to boarding school/college

[Anonymous]

after a mental health episode? If so, how as the process? Did the school have a policy or was it ad hoc? Were there supports? If so, did your DC have trouble accessing them?

How did your DC do? How did you do? What do you wish you would have known at the time? What am I missing?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the mental health issue. With bipolar and schizophrenia I’d slow way down on return to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the mental health issue. With bipolar and schizophrenia I’d slow way down on return to school.

Why the slow down? What if shrink says okay?

Appreciate any and all insights. TY.

[Anonymous]

I think return to school can be helpful, but, I'd want to be sure supports were in place - a disability accommodations plan, medication if appropriate, local psychiatrist and therapist, a signed healthcare power for anyone over 18 and signed permission to get info from the school about classes, grades, etc. I would also look at college tuition reimbursement policies and see how mental illness is covered.

You can also think about part time v full time and what kind of living situation would be best.

Many colleges do have policies on mental health care return - very discriminatory, unfair ones that force kids to "reapply" to school and as such create even more stress. There've been stories on Yale and other Ivies (Columbia is not great about this.)

A lot of this you will have to negotiate with your child. It needs to be supportive - not worried, controlling parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the mental health issue. With bipolar and schizophrenia I’d slow way down on return to school.

Why the slow down? What if shrink says okay?

Appreciate any and all insights. TY.

I don’t think bipolar and schizophrenia medications resolve symptoms completely and without side effects. A serious episode can exhaust your mind for many weeks. Also your kid needs to keep taking them or risk relapse. SSRIs just work better overall.

Most psychiatrists aren’t so great at the SMIs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the mental health issue. With bipolar and schizophrenia I’d slow way down on return to school.

Why the slow down? What if shrink says okay?

Appreciate any and all insights. TY.

I don’t think bipolar and schizophrenia medications resolve symptoms completely and without side effects. A serious episode can exhaust your mind for many weeks. Also your kid needs to keep taking them or risk relapse. SSRIs just work better overall.

Most psychiatrists aren’t so great at the SMIs.

SSRIs will not help in cases of bipolar disorder or schizophrenia though. Not everyone has side effects from antipsychotics or mood stabilizers.

As for the original question, I think it can be good for kids to return to school but only if they are stable enough to do so. I’d also want to make sure there were good treating clinicians in place, decent communication between the parent and kid, etc. Taking some semesters off or going part time are great options if the child hasn’t returned to baseline.

[Anonymous]

I would consider whether the kid has a strong support network of friends at school to return to. If not, I would send them someplace closer to home where I could keep a close eye on them.

If the kid is wanting to get back to their community, that is understandable, and I would do everything I could to support that. But if the impetus to get the kid back to college is the parent/student feeling pressure to get "back on track" I would rethink that. Better to go slowly and be successful than risk another crisis where there are limited supports.

[Anonymous]

I think one of the most important things to consider is medication compliance. The medication for both of these disorders can have side effects that people don't like. They feel good, stop taking their medication, and then they are back to being symptomatic.

[Anonymous]

OP, highly encourage a NAMI Family to Family Class if your kid is 18+ or a NAMI Basics Class if your kid is under 18, plus NAMI support groups are good both for family and peer-to-peer support.

[Anonymous]

The antipsychotics don’t resolve all issues, never mind the side effects, at least for most patients.

I don’t really think a psychiatrist with a 15-minute visit is able to determine whether or not your kid can go back. You should check that the academic skills are in place, and that they’re not having ADHD problems or lower energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The antipsychotics don’t resolve all issues, never mind the side effects, at least for most patients.

I don’t really think a psychiatrist with a 15-minute visit is able to determine whether or not your kid can go back. You should check that the academic skills are in place, and that they’re not having ADHD problems or lower energy.

What if the psychiatrist is seeing the patient on a regular basis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think return to school can be helpful, but, I'd want to be sure supports were in place - a disability accommodations plan, medication if appropriate, local psychiatrist and therapist, a signed healthcare power for anyone over 18 and signed permission to get info from the school about classes, grades, etc. I would also look at college tuition reimbursement policies and see how mental illness is covered.

You can also think about part time v full time and what kind of living situation would be best.

Many colleges do have policies on mental health care return - very discriminatory, unfair ones that force kids to "reapply" to school and as such create even more stress. There've been stories on Yale and other Ivies (Columbia is not great about this.)

A lot of this you will have to negotiate with your child. It needs to be supportive - not worried, controlling parent.

This detailed response is very helpful. Have nearly all in place, if DC elects to return, save one on here, which is a good reminder to handle.

TY for taking the time to cover the many angles to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would consider whether the kid has a strong support network of friends at school to return to. If not, I would send them someplace closer to home where I could keep a close eye on them.

If the kid is wanting to get back to their community, that is understandable, and I would do everything I could to support that. But if the impetus to get the kid back to college is the parent/student feeling pressure to get "back on track" I would rethink that. Better to go slowly and be successful than risk another crisis where there are limited supports.

All makes sense. Trying to weigh strong support network v maybe benefit of extra time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The antipsychotics don’t resolve all issues, never mind the side effects, at least for most patients.

I don’t really think a psychiatrist with a 15-minute visit is able to determine whether or not your kid can go back. You should check that the academic skills are in place, and that they’re not having ADHD problems or lower energy.

What if the psychiatrist is seeing the patient on a regular basis?

For me as a parent, if the student wants to return and the psychiatrist & therapist support it and have helped student develop a specific plan, then I, as the parent, am going to support it, even if I privately fear failure.

It isn't my job to protect my mentally ill child from failure. It is my job to say it's OK to try and fail and to pick up and try again.

I heard a NAMI peer presentation from someone who had to drop out 2-3 times from undergrad due to bipolar but ended up graduating from that global top university. I'm sure in the middle of it all plenty of people doubted whether she was right to continue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The antipsychotics don’t resolve all issues, never mind the side effects, at least for most patients.

I don’t really think a psychiatrist with a 15-minute visit is able to determine whether or not your kid can go back. You should check that the academic skills are in place, and that they’re not having ADHD problems or lower energy.

What if the psychiatrist is seeing the patient on a regular basis?

For me as a parent, if the student wants to return and the psychiatrist & therapist support it and have helped student develop a specific plan, then I, as the parent, am going to support it, even if I privately fear failure.

It isn't my job to protect my mentally ill child from failure. It is my job to say it's OK to try and fail and to pick up and try again.

I heard a NAMI peer presentation from someone who had to drop out 2-3 times from undergrad due to bipolar but ended up graduating from that global top university. I'm sure in the middle of it all plenty of people doubted whether she was right to continue.

We think quite similarly, so good to hear that others share this perspective.

Really appreciate everyone who has posted here and been candid with their thoughts - so helpful.