This is the first blog post in a two-part series on college mental health in the United States. The focus of this first post is college student suicide prevention. The second post focuses on general college mental health.
Before I actually had a daughter, I imagined that I’d be pretty cool with the whole dating thing. You know, a tiny bit formal perhaps—ask the young man (or the young lady) a few probing but non-threatening questions; remind both my daughter and her date about the curfew; and, refrain from kissing my daughter goodbye.
When I was young, the neighborhood bookstore had a distinctive arrangement. It almost always looked something like this:
The front table? Spy novels and books about tennis.
The books at the counter? More spy novels and books about travel.
An entire section was devoted to Kurt Vonnegut.
College is quite a milestone in family life. For parents and college-bound youth, it represents the real beginning of adulthood. Prospects of autonomy, independence and REALLY leaving home come to mind. It’s an incredibly exciting and long-awaited achievement.