Before Heading to College, Make a Mental Health Checklist

In other words, what can they do to protect their mental health? Experts suggest that parents and teenagers take proactive steps now to help plan for and preserve mental well-being during the big transition to college.

Connect early with the counseling center

Consider contacting the college’s counseling center before you arrive on campus. This is particularly important for those who already have an emotional disorder or other mental health concern.

The Jed Foundation, a suicide prevention organization that aims to protect the emotional health of teenagers and young adults, suggests asking the following of the school’s counseling center:

• What services are provided?
• Are there a maximum number of sessions allowed per year?
• Is there a counselor on call 24 hours a day? If not, what after-hours emergency services are available?
• What accommodations are available through disability services for students with emotional disorders?
• What is the school’s policy on taking leaves of absence?
• Are there other types of support available, like text lines or resident advisers?

Embrace other types of support

There are many resources available to students besides the counseling center. Tutoring, academic and peer advising, education coaching, student activities and career services can all help support a student’s emotional well-being.

Connecting with other students is especially important, the experts said.

“I often recommend making a list of your three to five biggest supporting people in your life,” said Melissa Martin, a licensed social worker and the chairwoman of counseling services at the SUNY Broome Community College in Binghamton, N.Y.

One way that students of color can protect their mental health is by taking an African American history or ethnic studies class and exploring some of the structural problems that contribute to stress, anxiety and depression, said Ebony O. McGee, a professor of diversity and STEM education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.

“Go to places and spaces where you are affirmed and celebrated, and not simply tolerated,” Dr. McGee said. It could be an extracurricular activity or a religious organization — anywhere you might find other marginalized students of color.

Practice basic wellness habits

Learning how to support yourself and taking steps to become more independent can also make the college transition less jarring. Before arriving on campus, practice managing a budget; advocating for yourself with a teacher, doctor or coach; or spending time outside of your childhood home — perhaps with a relative, or at summer camp.

Many high school students are already drinking alcohol socially with friends, Dave Anderson, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute said, and in college they may feel pressure to binge drink or “pre-game.” But teenagers can prepare mentally for this and other types of circumstances — including drug use and sexual situations — by setting boundaries now.

Excerpted from “Before Heading to College, Make a Mental Health Checklist” in the New York Times. Read the full article online.

Source: New York Times | Before Heading to College, Make a Mental Health Checklist, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/well/mind/mental-health-college-students.html |© 2022 The New York Times Company

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