Returning to College after a Hospitalization

While a young adult is in a hospital detoxing near their college campus, the last thing on anyone’s mind is when they can return to school.  And yes, when parents are inquiring about treatment programs, often they are asking about discharge timeline to ensure their kid will be back on campus before the start of the next semester. Let’s pause right there.

Your kid is detoxing in a hospital.  You’re inquiring about treatment programs, and potentially, selecting the program based on whether they’ll accommodate you in letting your kid return to college before next term.  Let that sink in again.

If your kid is hospitalized, college is not something that needs to be discussed right now.  Period.  Your kids’ health and wellbeing, however, is way more important in this exact moment.  College isn’t going anywhere.  Best case scenario, your kid will be in treatment far longer than the typical length of a winter break.  Worst case scenario, they are required to reapply to be a student.  This could go one of two ways, though.

First, it may be more appropriate for your kid to transfer.  If they experienced traumas while on campus, it may be easier to start fresh somewhere new.  Or, your kid tells you they need more time in recovery.  They want to discover a passion so that when, not if, they return to college one day, they’ll be driven to a degree they are interested in.  This is a fear most parents have.  If your kid leaves college, they’ll never return.  That is a very irrational fear.  Again, your child’s help if far more important in this moment.  To the point, if your focus as their parent doesn’t shift to them getting better, but rather, them returning to school, you could potentially lose your child, your adult child.

Don’t be that parent that is driving the college degree over mental health or substance abuse.  Your kid needs to be stable, sober, and surrounded by a community of therapeutic professionals that can help them remain in that space of security and safety.  When they’re ready, college will be there.

For questions or comments contact Joanna.