"How to Thrive at College"
"How to Thrive at College"

The Right Mind Media Podcast

Dr Matilde Ross talks with Jon Cohan and Abby Dean about practical ways students can look after their mental health at university, from sleep and food to caffeine and friendship. The conversation also addresses pressure, rankings and how parents can support independence without losing connection.

InformativeInspiringSupportiveHonestEncouraging

28:42•26 Apr 2026

RSS Feed

How to Help Students Stay Sane and Happy at University

Episode Overview

Basic self-care—enough sleep, regular meals and movement—underpins students’ mood, focus and academic performance.
Heavy caffeine use can mimic or worsen anxiety and sleep problems, sometimes sending students to emergency care unnecessarily.
Overscheduling and constant achievement pressure can leave young people burned out before they even start university.
Parents help most by setting clear values early, staying in regular but not intrusive contact, and allowing students to learn from mistakes.
The quality of the parent–child relationship and what students do at university matters far more than any institutional ranking.

“"I have seen kids completely waste their four years here, and I have seen kids get every morsel out of their four years here. It's what you do when you get there."”

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol or other quick fixes during the pressure-cooker years of college? This conversation on The Right Mind Media Podcast zooms in on exactly that stressful mix of independence, expectation and fragile mental health.

Senior staff psychiatrist Dr Matilde ("Tilde") Ross from Boston University joins hosts Jon Cohan and Gabrielle "Abby" Dean to talk about her book *How to Thrive at College: A Guide to the Ups and Downs of Mental Health on Campus*. Drawing on nearly two decades in college mental health, Ross explains why college-age students can look like fully fledged adults while secretly running on caffeine, little sleep and sheer panic.

Ross has a knack for humour to make serious points land. She jokes that, "if anyone gave their dog alcohol or caffeine or interrupted their dog's many naps, that would be animal cruelty", then flips the question back to how students treat themselves. From there, she lays out the basics: enough sleep to actually feel rested, regular meals rather than coffee and energy drinks until 4 p.m., and real social connection as a form of "love" on campus.

Parents of teens and soon-to-be students will hear hard truths wrapped in compassion. Ross talks about overscheduling, constant achievement pressure and college rankings turning normal adolescence into an endless competition. She shares her own son saying a world-class university was "not good enough", despite her years of insisting that where you go matters far less than what you do once you’re there.

The episode also gets practical for families: how often to check in, when to step back, and why letting students "fall on their face" at college can be healthier than constant nagging. At its heart, the message is simple: protect the relationship, keep the basics of self-care non-negotiable, and remember that mental health at 18 starts at home long before the dorm move-in.

If you’ve got a student in your life, how early are you starting the conversation about sleep, pressure and what really counts?

PreviousPersonal Recovery Story: Sam D.