A Parent's Guide to Mental Health and Wellness for College Students
January 1, 2018
This parent's guide should be required reading for all who worry about their college-age kids running into trouble with alcohol, drugs, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and other mental-health issues. Morris, a psychiatrist at the University of Florida, authoritatively explains the problems, the pressures, and the crises, including sexual assault, psychosis, and such alarming trends as drunkorexia, in which students starve themselves or purge before consuming alcohol so they can get intoxicated more quickly. Morris also discusses how rising college costs add to student stress and increasing suicide rates. A big problem is that 18- to 25-year-olds hesitate to get treatment because they can't afford it, or they worry about being asked to leave school or fear being involuntarily committed or forced to go to the hospital. To nip trouble in the bud, Morris urges parents to review end-of-semester grades and monitor spending. Never mind warnings about helicopter parenting; Morris tells mothers and fathers to get more involved in their children's mental health and convincingly argues that it's their duty to be their kids' mentor, guide, coach and cheerleader. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)