One month later, my daughter made some progress as in she is a little bit more comfortable talking to us and she continues her weekly sessions with her therapist. The sleeping schedule is not ideal, as she watches tv at night and sleeps until lunch, but the good news is that she has dinner with us, plays piano, reads on the internet about depression/anxiety, goes for walks, does basic chores. Her mood is "ok" most of the days (with periodic full days in bed) but she does not do any school work and this increases her anxiety regarding her transcript, her future etc. Any attempt to discuss this matter ends with "I cannot focus/I have no motivation" and another full day in bed.


For this reason we do not know where to draw the line between giving her more time to work with her therapist and pressuring her to contact the school to find out what options she has going forward. I wonder if it is possible to take the term off on mental health grounds assuming that a letter from her therapist is enough to attest her inability to complete the school work. I am not even sure if the therapist would write such a letter or if my daughter would have to seek a formal diagnostic from a psychiatrist for this reason. Her therapist has not recommended that my daughter goes to see a psychiatrist until now and I am assuming that she would say something if she notices anything worth exploring further.


Does anyone know if a therapist alone can diagnose depression or anxiety or a related mental health condition? Would a letter from a therapist be enough for the college to approve a medical leave of absence for this term? I am trying to find info online on the college website but the only advice I see is to contact the school. At this point we trust that therapy will help her overcome this episode of depression, but we are worried that she may end up in a worse academic situation than she should be in, just because she postpones talking to her school.

Any advice is very much appreciated, thank you all.