Last semester, I was shocked to learn through Facebook that a girl I knew was forced to leave her college because she had admitted that her symptoms of depression and suicidal tendencies were returning.

I couldn’t believe it.

Until reading her Facebook post that addressed the issue, I had never heard of a college forcing students to leave because of their past or reoccurring history with depression or suicidal thoughts.

Her school was forcing her to go through therapy and treatment for these issues while banning her from returning until she completed them, all in the name of her safety and wellness.

It is completely mind-boggling to me that certain schools take students who show signs of depression, thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts and rip them away from their lives to try to fix them.

There are plenty of alternative ways that the school could help those students on campus.

The only reason a college would not want them there is because having students with these issues and conditions tarnishes the school’s image.

A school sending students away and telling them not to come back until they are fixed does more harm than good.

These schools are ripping these students away from things that take their minds off of their symptoms of depression.

No doctor or therapist can help a depressed student more than friends, professors and school councilors.

Those people know and love these students and are the ones who can help.

The practice of colleges sending mentally ill students home is shameful and ostracizing and must be abolished. Schools who have participated in this practice need to be held accountable for their painful and inappropriate actions.

If colleges care more about their image than their students, is it really even worth enrolling?

Megan Mann can be reached at [email protected] or @meganisthemann on Twitter.