College students across the country are experiencing a mental health crisis.
The pressures of academic achievement and financial stress, coupled with the pervasive influence of technology and social media, has reshaped the college experience. In the wake of the pandemic, keeping aspects of the college experience virtual has been great for accessibility, but many students find it exacerbates feelings of loneliness. As students across the country speak out about their mental health struggles, colleges, universities, and mental health professionals are trying to figure out what to do about it.
Why Therapy Can Be a Solution
Therapy for college students can be a powerful tool for navigating the unique challenges of academic life. Whether you’re struggling with stress, anxiety, relationships, or adjusting to newfound independence, therapy provides a safe space to explore your emotions and develop effective coping strategies. By addressing issues early, therapy can help you build resilience and thrive both personally and academically.
How a Psychiatrist Can Help With Struggles Specific to Being a Student
If a college student is struggling with mental health issues, they should strongly consider seeing a psychiatrist, and in particular and child/adolescent psychiatrist (who also sees adults). A child and adolescent psychiatrist has training to appreciate all of the transitions that occur going into college including potentially leaving home, transitioning from high school to college, making new friends, being away from family, developing more independence and autonomy. A psychiatrist can help on several fronts though. First, they are able to make an accurate diagnosis for what the mental health issues are then treat it through either medications or therapy.
Things to Consider Before Pursuing Therapy
There are many factors to consider when looking for a psychiatrist or therapist. First and foremost is finding a good “fit.” Making sure that you can connect with your provider and feel open and comfortable sharing personal information about your life is extremely important. Besides finding a good fit, there are many practical considerations such as if you are looking to go through insurance or pay out of pocket, if you would like it to be through your school or a private practitioner in the community, or if you would prefer in-person or over televideo.
Pros and Cons of Therapy for College Students
Reasons to Go to Therapy (Pros)
- Overall, if you are looking to improve your mental health, therapy can be a great option.
- College can be very stressful for a number of reasons and therapy can help you deal with college anxiety with techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy or psychodynamic therapy.
- One of the biggest changes in college can be someone’s living situation. College students can live in dorms or suites, have several roommates, some of whom you are meeting for the first time with no prior consideration by housing for how your routines and sleep schedules may vary. There are social obligations going late into the night followed by early classes. Ultimately, sleep can be very difficult in college and therapy can help fix insomnia. One of the best researched techniques for sleep is CBT-I, or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
- Another common issue throughout school and particularly in higher education levels is ADHD. Whether you have been diagnosed in childhood and are accustomed to managing ADHD or are seeking a new diagnoses, ADHD treatment for college students is very important. At A Better Day Psychiatry, we see many students who have suspected they could have ADHD and were never tested or are just finding that focus problems are an issue given the high pressure and demands in college, and they can benefit immensely getting their ADHD treated effectively.
- Other mental health conditions including depression, OCD, bipolar, and even schizophrenia can be improved with therapy and medications.
Reasons Not to Go to Therapy (Cons)
There are not a lot of true cons to therapy, as most people can benefit from the right modality of therapy for them and finding the right provider. That is why is so important to find the right fit. Reasons that people may not do well in therapy include not connecting with their therapist, not being open and curios to exploring their mental health, feeling compelled to do therapy by someone else and not being internally motivated for therapy. Other considerations such as cost, or the time commitment can impact seeking out treatment but with enough motivation there is usually a solution.
Is Therapy for College Students the Right Choice for You?
At A Better Day Psychiatry, we focus on finding a good fit between the patient and provider, tailoring the treatment to best fit their needs through accurate diagnosing and then presenting the best medications, therapies, and lifestyle changes to the patient to make a decision together.