Colleges and suicide

CC_Admin
Fri, 03 Dec 2004 19:52:38 +0000

The whole picture of therapy for kids with any mental illness is seriously impacted by the dearth of mental health professionals for kids and adolescents in the US. Some of the tendancy to try medication as a first resort reflectes a reality that it can take months to get into see a therapist in some places, and that insurance companies often place significant limits on reimbursement for mental health services. Given their druthers, most mental health professionals would definitely prefer combined therapies when medication is being used, but it is sometimes not feasible. A new complication is the “black box” warning that has been placed on the SSRI type medications (prozac etc) pertaining to their use for adolescents and kids. This issue is being hotly debated in professional circles because people feel their hands are completely tied.

The peak age of onset for first episodes of major depression is 15-24 (with another for middle age). Kids in college are in this age bracket and area vulnerable- as are kids in HS. Major depression is often a recurring life event. The first step in working on/with/through depression is psychoeducation- helping families and patients understand what depression is about so that the stigma or misunderstandings are reduced. There are huge barriers to this (not only those above) including cultural differences in the understanding of human differences.

Colleges and parents and insurance companies and…all have to take on the challenge. Parents sending kids off to college are fortunate when, as my son’s school did, the colleges send out material in the summer which prompts discussions about mental health in a proactive manner. I mean, we talked about everything else (!), surely we were going to talk about this!