15 hours ago
HBO Documentary Highlights An Innovation In College Mental Health
Poster for HBO documentary
According to a 2025 report by Statista, almost 10% of college students receiving mental health care were hospitalized from 2023 to 2024. Hospitalizations are, sometimes, a necessary component of college mental health. For example, an hour-long therapy session, once a week at a campus counseling center, is likely not enough to treat students with intense thoughts/gestures about suicide. However, there're unique considerations when a traditional-aged college student is admitted into a standard inpatient treatment program. The young adult might be required to attend groups with significantly older members who have vastly different life experiences, the student will likely disconnect from school and may not have academic support, and some students/families have a negative stigma about hospitalizations and doubt that it can be helpful.
Last year, HBO premiered a two-part documentary titled 'One South: Portrait of A Psych Unit,' to provide an intimate look at how a hospital addresses these concerns. The subject of the documentary was Northwell's Zucker Hillside Hospital, and it's one of the only inpatient psychiatric units in America dedicated to treating college students. Lindsey Megrue and Alexandra Shiva were the filmmakers who produced and directed the documentary. They reported wanting to complete a project on inpatient care because it's often misunderstood and stigmatized. Megrue stated, 'Through our research, we discovered One South and found what they were doing to be unique and groundbreaking by specializing in the treatment of college students.'
Background Of The Inpatient Unit
Dr. Laura Braider is a clinical psychologist and the associate vice president of behavioral health at Northwell Health. She's a featured therapist in the documentary and explained why the hospital opened a psychiatric unit dedicated to college students. She stated, 'When admitted to general psychiatric units, college students often felt out of place, surrounded by much older adults or individuals experiencing the long-term effects of severe mental illness…We saw two common reactions. Students either minimized their symptoms to get discharged quickly, or they feared that what they were seeing represented their own future. Both responses undermined treatment and recovery.'
Braider's comments are supported by the concept of universality in mental health treatment. A 2011 report on Psychology Today exemplified how universality results in a homogeneous group being easier to treat because of share experiences, connection, and hope. Braider shared how universality is a vital aspect to the treatment at the hospital. She stated, 'Since opening our college-focused unit, the impact has been immediate and powerful. Students feel seen. They're surrounded by peers, cared for by staff trained in emerging adult mental health, and immersed in a culture of healing that feels relatable.'
Braider also explained how the hospital works with a collection of schools through Northwell's Behavioral Health College Partnership. According to the psychologist, 'We now collaborate with over 100 colleges and universities, offering coordinated navigation protocols and psychiatric services, including emergency transport, inpatient care, post-acute outpatient treatment, and reintegration back to campus.'
Responses To The Documentary
When asked about reactions to the documentary, Braider commented, 'The response has been overwhelmingly positive, most often gratitude. Families who've known about the program for years told us they finally understood what we do. Even some of our own team members' families said they didn't grasp the full picture until they saw the film.'
Megrue and Shiva also discussed positive reactions from the patients in the film. According to the filmmakers, the number of patients who gave their consent to participate was higher than expected. Shiva commented, 'it was definitely a surprise for us." When asked if the patients' age appeared to be a factor in their willingness to participate, both Shiva and Megrue agreed and said that producing the film seemed to confirm the notion that current traditional-aged college students are more willing to discuss mental health issues as compared to previous generations.
The filmmaker also explained that this high motivation represented a challenge because it resulted in having limited time with each participant rather than telling their full story. However, Megrue said that participants were allowed to stop the cameras at any time and that most of them described their participation as healing. According to Megrue, 'pretty much every participant said that they wanted to help others.'
According to a 2024 report by Psychology Today, the documentary also impacted the field of counseling by providing widespread recognition for Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Braider described DBT as an important element to the treatment program. She commented, 'We needed a model that was proven to work. DBT is the gold standard for treating suicidality and emotional dysregulation. We trained and supervised our entire inpatient team in DBT, and it has been transformative. It created structure, consistency, and real results.'
Hopes For the Documentary
Shiva reported that her hope was to destigmatize inpatient treatment and to foster empathy for those seeking treatment. She said, 'If a person can talk about their challenges in such an open way, it really does have such an impact. It opens the door to more dialogue.' Megrue said that she hoped to encourage other treatment centers to replicate the program. According to Braider, a motivating factor for participating in the documentary was to encourage students and families who might be hesitant about seeking inpatient treatment. She commented, 'There is hope, and far more of it than most people realize. Many students who are hospitalized go on to live incredibly full, successful lives. It's just not a narrative we hear often, which is why I'm so grateful to the students and families in the documentary who had the courage to share theirs.'
