Leave of absence from uni for mental health reasons

[WaterBubbles]

DS has had a mental health crisis over the summer after his first year at uni.

He kept things hidden from us until now but it has now all come out- he basically spent the whole of his first year in his room (unless he was socialising at night), alcohol and weed, didn't attend his lectures. Miraculously he passed his first year exams but has now fallen to pieces. He is depressed and also I think psychologically reliant on alcohol.

We have found him a psychologist and he is starting sessions soon. I am worried about him going back to uni and trying to work out what the options are. Is it possible to take a year out of studying for health reasons and then return to the same course? Has anyone experienced anything like this? His uni is hundreds of miles from where we live and I am really worried about him. Costs shouldn't be a factor as I have decent savings.

What else could we do?

Any advice at all would be really welcome. Thank you.

Lots of people take a year out or change courses with no issue. He needs to contact his course tutor in the first instance to see what they can offer.

Yes, this is very common. He will need to speak with his personal tutor or department senior tutor to start the process.

Yes, he can suspend for a year. Ask him to email the Programme Leader. He will have to complete an official form, so the uni have a record and also for student finance purposes. In my uni, suspensions are only allowed for a year, so make sure you check that.

Different universities have different ways of applying, they are best looking on the website and or their student portal for first steps.
Make sure he gets advice on consequences of taking time out, as it can impact student finance.

Yes this is a good option - many students insist on carrying on when they're really not fit to. Contact them ASAP so you can get a suspension or leave of absence in place ready for the new academic year. It means loans fees and so on will be on hold but also means you aren't racking up payments for a course you're not able to do right now.

Following as we are in the same boat

I think you can defer for a year. It also is worth considering is there anything worth changing? Like would he be better at a different university closer to home? Would he prefer a different course? Would he prefer not to be at university, could always go back later in life. I would try and find out what was wrong and see what would help maybe in conjunction with therapist. I know a guy this happened to, drank himself silly y1, transferred to uni closer to home different course completed OK but never used the degree. Went on to work fine but in a role didn't need a degree for very close to home.

Yes, you can defer.

Yes you can suspend your studies. It needs to be done formally though so he needs to contact his personal tutor or course leader asap.

Just to add to the agreement with your thoughts about him taking a year’s leave of absence.

As an academic, I’ve seen that break work wonders for undergrads; and sadly, I’ve also seen students refuse to intercalate despite out (expert) advice that they do so. They limp along and it’s not really the life-enhancing and changing educational experience one would wish for students.

Another thing to think about: I was personal tutor for one lad about a decade ago who struggled with alcohol. I saw him almost weekly at one point and we got him to engage with a peer/student union run alcohol support group. It was so effective for him that he trained to be a peer support for other students with alcohol dependency.

He went off back to his community to be a primary school teacher and I’m sure he’s an excellent one. A lovely boy but he came close to the brink - I hope your DS can find his way through this.

Absolutely possible. Defer now and he won’t pay fees until he returns. Google the uni name and deferral and you’ll probably find details of the process. He should email his personal academic tutor or programme/course leader and give them the heads up.

Thanks so much, everyone. I'm going to have a chat with DS about it all. I feel much better knowing that there are options.