As parents, we all would like to feel that once a child turns 18, our job is somewhat over. However, for the young adult who may still be struggling, there are many program options for young adults available. These options can include re-habs for young adults, or young adult programs for populations struggling with mental health issues; anxiety and depression being two of the most often found diagnoses. The important thing to remember is that there is something parents can do and there are places available for young adults who are still struggling to fly on their own.
Perhaps your child finds finishing high school a huge hurdle, or has started college and felt overwhelmed or has had a long standing problem with illegal substances. There are many young adult programs to address these issues. The re-habs for young adults will have a much narrower age group than the classic adult re-hab. Often re-habs for young adults will concentrate on the 18-24 age group, which is much more appropriate than being in treatment with the criteria of admission simply being anyone over the age of 18. A young adult who is trying to get back into college is not interested in being in a program with a 40 year old executive who may be having a mid-life crisis.
The tricky part of any of the young adult programs, be they re-habs for young adults or any other options, is their age. Once your child has reached the age of majority, he/she has to go willingly to any of these options for young adults. And, even if you are able to get him/her to a re-hab for young adults, he/she has to be willing to stay once he/she gets there. Once the novelty of being in a re-hab for young adults wears off; or once the young adult program that your son/daughter selected to help him/her get back on track to return to college starts looking seriously at the issues that caused him/her to stumble, the temptation to leave is enormous. Keep in mind that to address long standing issues at any of these program options for young adults may take a while. If your son/daughter recently started having problems, you might get lucky and nip the issues in the bud quickly. Most parents wait too long, allowing aberrant behavior to become an ingrained pattern. Parents are hoping that the need for a young adult program is too extreme a measure to take for their child. Just remember, the longer you wait to deal with a problem, the longer it will take to address it in treatment. The options for young adults need to capture the imagination of the client and then they need to engage the client enough to keep them at the program long enough to do the work. Many issues have often been kicked down the road with the hope that it will simply disappear. These issues do not magically disappear; they just get harder to treat.