“The Campus Cure: A Parent’s Guide to Mental Health and Wellness for College Students” (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2018) is written as a first-aid guide for parents of young people struggling with the mental health issues facing college students today. The importance of parents working collaboratively with the student/patient and the health care team is stressed throughout; Dr. Marcia Morris draws upon the medical literature and more than 20 years’ experience as a psychiatrist at the University of Florida, Gainesville, to provide clear guidance on a key theme: The continued support and involvement of caring parents in a young adult’s life can be crucial to her college success.
The book is well organized with separate chapters containing easy-to-understand explanations of the causes and treatments of common problems (anxiety, depression, substance use, academic failure to thrive), pressures (loneliness, perfectionism, financial stress, and culture/sexuality/gender issues), and crises (suicide, sexual assault, eating disorders, psychosis) affecting students today. Helpful background information about medications, resources for obtaining help on campuses, and legal issues about confidentiality is provided where appropriate. Each section is brought to life with vignettes of typical patients seen in the college mental health setting. Questions that ask the reader how they would respond in the situation illustrated are used effectively and encourage the reader to think through the information presented and retain what they have learned. Helpful summary lists of “tips” close most chapters.
In her introduction, Dr. Morris stresses that this book is not just for parents but also for family and friends who may find themselves in the role of being the caring adult in a student’s life. She encourages parents to read the whole book, even those chapters they may not think will apply to their child, explaining how common difficulties are in this age group and how important it is to know how to respond when an issue may arise.
Although this is good advice, I suspect that many parents without specific concerns are unlikely to proactively choose to read this book. Concerned parents who do pick this volume up “just in case” will find specific strategies for effective and helpful communication with their child and with professionals as well as stories of reassuring good outcomes from parental involvement. Dr. Morris recommends that parents ask their child to obtain access for the parents to the student’s grades and grant permission for parents to communicate with mental health care providers and school administration. However, she does not offer much guidance for the parent of the child who never signs the required forms to allow access to this information – and is generally not communicative with the parents.
Dr. Donna S. Holland
Parents of a teenager who receives treatment (even prior to college) certainly should be encouraged to read this book. I also would recommend this book for many others working with young adults (even if they are not in college settings) for example, health care professionals without mental health training, educators, psychotherapist trainees, and mentors. Along with parents, they will find “The Campus Cure” to be a great resource for understanding and dealing with the mental health challenges of young adulthood.
Dr. Holland is board certified in child/adolescent and adult psychiatry. She is based in Boca Raton, Fla., where she is an affiliate assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine. Click here to listen to a recent MDedge Psychcast interview with Dr. Morris about the prevalence of binge drinking on college campuses – and steps psychiatrists and other therapists can take to mitigate risk.