yes but from what I looked up they all require insurance still
I would like to reiterate that a campus counseling center is not equipped to deal with serious psychiatric issues. Their job is to assess and refer. What are they equipped to deal with in-house? Anything school-related, such as difficulty adjusting, feelings of isolation, roommate problems, mild to moderate anxiety or depression arising from school-related issues, and similar issues. They assess and refer. The referral can be to on-campus de-stressing workshops, residence life counselors, social skills groups, or off-campus mental health professionals. They do not develop ongoing therapeutic relationships with patients.
Brantly, I know of several exceptions to your statement. It really depends on the college.
^^OK. In most cases. But I’d be curious to know which colleges have licensed psychologists or CSWs who are prepared to treat serious psychiatric illness and see patients on a long-term basis.
But are we talking that level of serious? And yes, my kid’s college had psych and other staff.
My experience has been that many colleges and universities have moved away from long term treatment for students, though many graduate training programs at universities have clinics providing mental health and testing services to students and the community. While this clinic is for short term treatment, the staff- to-student ratio is pretty notable. https://www.ncf.edu/cwc/counseling-wellness-center-staff/
Schools are not required to offer insurance. Most do, for various reasons, but it is not a requirement of the Affordable Care Act or any other federal regulation.
If he’s seeking services to rule out/in bipolar, yes.
Some colleges do have psychiatrists on staff. And it can be helpful having contact with a therapist or MD at the school for communication with deans and professors concerning accommodations and so on. Then again some prefer privacy and seek help outside of the school.
Antidepressants can be prescribed, even for bipolar 1 patients, but for bp1 they must be on a mood stabilizer first.
If the original poster is using “mania” loosely, that is another thing. Mania has very specific elements and is not all that hard to diagnose. Hypomania is a little murkier.
Clearly the main issue here isn’t how to avoid parents finding out, but how to talk to the parents about difficulties and get any needed help. It is possible that a therapist could help with this. I am sorry it is so scary to think of your parents discovering you are struggling.
Without any proper diagnosis- or even a conversation with one’s family doctor- we can’t say much. Most of us are not MH professionals and a pro would certainly dig deeper than a few lines in writing. We can’t declare what OP is experiencing, what care this will be. OP needs to get started. I don’t even know if he uses “mania” as a pro would.
And he/she may be on campus now, can explore this.
I want to again thank everyone for the help. I am in school now and will exercise all my options. there are psychologists and psychiatrists at my school so we will see what happens. I will get a job hopefully over the summer so I can pay my own way for future visits. thank you
Late to this thread but my 2 cents: if you really have the problems you think you do then they are likely to get worse in college. Assuming your goal is to complete college, then your mental health issues sound like your single largest obstacle to success. Your parents are going to know in the end anyway. I assume they are paying for your school and/or insurance. They have a right to know what they are paying for even if you have a right to restrict the nitty gritty of the details.
Were it me, I would start at the school counseling center for a free assessment and tell them your concerns. If they are unconcerned, then your problems are solved. If they tell you that you have relatively minor issues that are solvable within the confines of short term (< 12 free session) therapy, then problem solved. If they diagnose a significant condition that requires psychiatric evaluation and treatment, then you should tell your parents. Like it or not, you need them and whether they like it or not they need to be decent.
If you truly have something like bipolar disorder that has potentially significant consequences, then you should get established with a psychiatrist and therapist privately outside of the college system and payed for with your parents’ insurance.
I think you need to see the therapist and see what they say before stressing too much. Some counselors are excellent but most counselors can’t prescribe and student health center may only prescribe certain things and so if you need medication you may have to see psychiatrist - if not on staff at school then you’re back to parents seeing EOB for visit. Check into what your school has, but first step is to see therapist and get initial evaluation.
Also, in initial post you say that your doctor is referring you to see someone while at school - do your parents know about this much of the story? Wouldn’t they already know you have some issues?
lifeisfinite thank you for your gracious post and good luck to you!
sorry for the confusion. my parents are not paying for any of my school, I am a student athlete on scholarship. they are only paying for my insurance which is why I have the issue in the first place.
like all schools we have to get a physical exam before we get to practice and play and one of the forms we had to fill out was mental health and depression check and I guess some of my answers were alarming or something so I said there is a possibility they will make me see the school’s mental health team before being cleared. if they don’t clear me my parents won’t know because this whole process doesn’t cost them anything.
So you answered that you couldn’t sleep well or were sleeping too much, felt hopeless, had lost interest in things etc? If so then I think you want help because it is easy enough to answer those falsely and hide your feelings. It’s just a checklist really. Hoping you get the counseling you seem to want along with whatever privacy is possible.
I am assuming you won’t lose your scholarship or be kept off the team due to some depression issues. I don’t even think that would be legal.
@kelsmom then why are we required to buy it unless we prove we have it? My older kids never had to do this pre ACA
The public health answer: They don’t want sick kids not to have access to health care.
The cynical answer: They are finding ways to add to the bill.
It has nothing to do with ACA. There would be no need for ACA to require it because a) children can stay on parents’ health plan until age 26, and b) If the parents don’t have a health plan, students can buy their own plan from their state exchange or the federal exchange. It would be very cheap for a single 18-year-old.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/well/family/do-college-students-need-the-campus-health-plan.html?_r=0
@brantly annoying
For privacy purposes never give the family landline number to any medical provider or pharmacy. IME, even if you make a DO NOT CALL request they cannot seem to coordinate that request with their automated systems.
I have also had problems with Walgreens mail order pharmacy putting all of the family prescriptions in one package. I think it is a huge privacy concern that other family members can see the medications of others. I complained with no resolution.