As More College Students Struggle With Mental Health Issues, What Can Parents Do?

As More College Students Struggle With Mental Health Issues, What Can Parents Do?
For some college students, the stress of being away from home, separation from family, and having to care for themselves in a new setting can be the perfect storm for the development of mental health problems. vladgphoto/Shutterstock
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This fall, North Carolina State University lost four students to suicide. Other colleges, such as Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, and the University of North Carolina, have reported student suicides on the rise. The epidemic of suicide attempts by young people is more than concerning—it’s frightening. For college-aged students, in particular, there has been a sharp increase in suicidal ideation. In fact, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for college students.
Adolescence (age 9 to 25) is a critical period of right brain development, only second to ages 0–3. During adolescence, the brain is pruning all of the excess synapses and cells in a process as critical to mental and emotional health as the burst of growth in the early years. During this period in which the brain is being designed to become what will later be that adult’s brain, stress is the most impactful on development.
Erica Komisar
Erica Komisar
Author
Erica Komisar, LCSW, is a psychoanalyst, parent guidance expert, and author of "Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters" and "Chicken Little The Sky Isn’t Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents In The New Age Of Anxiety."
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