We’ve definitely seen kids (and not just boys, although that’s more common) have problems at a wide range of different schools (the pandemic certainly didn’t help in that regard). The further away they are from home, the more difficult it can be for parents to help. And the UK’s end of year exam-based format means you may not find out anything is wrong until July after freshman year when it may be too late in the day to transfer without a gap year. You may also have to repeat an entire year, not just one class.
The US system generally has more flexibility to take a semester off, or transfer to another institution, and the credits you’ve accumulated tend to be recognized and useful elsewhere. The kid we know who had a crisis in freshman year at Berkeley handled it much more smoothly (with a semester off to reset) than the kid who was at St Andrews. Being close to home helped, but the fact they were in a familiar US system helped more.