ABSTRACT
Graduate students are as prone to serious mental illness as other adults of similar age. The milder forms of anxiety or obses-sive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not necessarily interfere with academic progress although they may be disabling during times of severe stress. Early recognition of serious illness is extremely important. An ideal not often realized is to have a close liaison between a psychiatrist based on campus and key university personnel-deans, resident hall advisors and coaches-who can be alerted to the signs and symptoms of a student’s impending decompensation. A small number of graduate students will exhibit flagrant psychotic episodes. International students who become psychotic are a particularly difficult therapeutic challenge for the campus psychiatrist. Many are on student visas that mandate deportation if the student is hospitalized or takes a leave of absence. A major mental illness has a profound effect on graduate studies.
