college suggestions for bipolar student

moondogguy
Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:59:33 +0000

We made a big mistake sending our son. who also has a mental condition, to a college about a two hour drive away. We thought he had stabalized enough to attend college away, but he quickly deteriorated without the in- person structure and help we could provide. Very frustrating trying to deal with it all from a distance. You feel kind of helpless. We ending up pulling him out about two months into the first semester. We enrolled him in the local community college where he has done really great. We’ve been able to closely monitor him, make sure he stays on his meds, and intervene quickly when we see problems before his studies get impacted. It’s been tough on us at times tending to him, but not near as frustrating as when he was away. He is also able to continue seeing his normal therapist as well which has done him a ton of good. He just graduated with high honors with an associates degree and is transferring to a nice, small private liberal arts college right here in town this Fall, where he can continue living at home, and we can continue to monitor and help him. Also ended up with a much larger scholarship than he had in his first college. Will actually be cheaper going to the private college (and living at home) than going away to a state university. Is he learning to be independent? Probably not, although we see signs that he is slowly maturing, so maybe some day. Will he be graduating from a prestigious college. No, but his college is still nice and the people very friendly and caring. However, our main concern was him actually making it through college at all while being challenged with his mental illness. I don’t think he would have had a chance at making it if we hadn’t ended up going this route.