Has anyone had a kid take a leave of absence for mental health reasons?

I’m so sorry your daughter is struggling. There have been times in my life that I felt stuck in an unhappy place and had to significantly adjust course. Part of me saw all the effort and decisions that had got me to where I was and was unwilling to let go of it all (the sunken cost fallacy). The other part of me knew that no matter how much I had worked and sacrificed to get there, I was in the wrong place.

I love the idea of the organic farm for your daughter. The Ancient Greeks said that a healthy mind can only exist in a healthy body. Farm work is certainly physically demanding and it puts us in contact with the earth and the elements which can be therapeutic in and of itself.

As far as her studies go, I would encourage her to transfer universities after she’s feeling a little better. It’s hard to turn a really negative experience into a positive one no matter how much positive psychology we apply to it. And I know I’m just a random person on the Internet, but know that I’m thinking of you and your daughter and that I wish she finds herself in a more positive mindset sooner rather than later.

Edited to add: I’m not an expert on medications but I lived with a relative that had to take meds for a very serious mental health problem and the side effects alone would put anyone off taking them. That was a while ago and I know there are many more medications available now but it still seems to be a trial and error process.

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