- Date posted
- 2y ago
Ending university
My mental illness is getting so bad... Should I end my university? It makes no sense anymore...can't concentrate on nothing It makes me just more nervous...
My mental illness is getting so bad... Should I end my university? It makes no sense anymore...can't concentrate on nothing It makes me just more nervous...
I was struggling also but I didn’t quit. It took me about 6 years to graduate but I’m glad I did. Was even placed on academic probation twice. Graduated with a 2.5 gpa and somehow landed high paying job a couple months out of school. So just take your time if you need to but don’t just quit. Maybe take a gap semester and take a mental health break.
I’d you stop going to university, then what will you do? Staying home and not doing anything will only make things WAY worse. So, you need to be in intense treatment and possibly a full time job—or part time job—to justify dropping out. Doing nothing will make things worse. But if you can, try not doing so many classes per semester and drop one or even two classes next semester, so 3 total? Maybe 4 total. Not sure how many you’re taking now. Then you can also do OCD treatment.
Agreed. Quitting real commitments to better yourself or your future will only add an existential element to the hurt
Definitely with Nica, quitting will just give you more time to ruminate on the anxiety. I'm taking it slow on work and school and it really helps me stay focused on something other than my OCD. Your university should have an accessibility resource center that you can talk to about your mental health and they can make sure you can still qualify for scholarships/funding with a lighter load.
I understand. In the past 4 years I watched my gpa go from 4.0 to less than 1.0 with academic probation. It was especially sucky because I was always the “smart kid” in high school and put a lot of my worth into my grades. However, ultimately, I just couldn’t do life at school anymore and so I dropped out for the second time 😅 to take another gap semester. That said, I’m not giving up. I hope to be healthy enough to return to a different university with better mental health resources in the Spring 🤍 I wish you the best of luck friend as you figure this out. Whatever you choose you’re not alone and there’s a lot of strangers like me who understand and support you!
Do you think your mental illness is affecting your grades and/or your ability to pass?
Thank you guys for your valuable advices :)
Speak to your tutors and try to get some sessions with a mental health counsellor at the university. Once the university understand your circumstances or get your diagnoses from your doctor/psychiatrist they should be able to offer you additional support. I’m not sure where you live but you should be able to request a letter from your doctor/psychiatrist to give to your university. They’ll discuss any adjustments they can make for you ——- you need to be in therapy. If you can’t afford private (I’m presuming you’re in the UK because you said university) you need to contact your GP and have them give you a referral. Don’t be too hard on yourself… a lot of people struggle and are struggling at the moment. I’ve noticed universities increasing mental health support across the country recently. You need to reach out and get help then you can make an informed decision about whether leaving is the best decision. You might be able to take a gap year etc so get help and discuss different options with your therapist and the university then make a decision but if you do leave you need to continue receiving help/therapy. You’ll need to volunteer/work etc to get yourself out there so you don’t sit around doing nothing as it’ll make your mental health worse. Having rest days is completely different and it’s ok to stop and take breaks but you’ll need to do something if you leave to keep yourself occupied.
Thank you guys for the advices! It's just so inefficient how I do it right now... So much stress I need so much more effort for every thing And all together (work, studying, anxiety disorder) it's much too much at the time...and just makes my anxiety worse
I am from Austria and yes we also have psychological support for students I ll reach out to them, thank you for the idea...
@OliviaP See if your university offer scholarships, bursaries or hardship funds. This should help alleviate some of the stress.
I just think my mental health is a priority
Hello! I am really looking for some advice. I have been struggling with OCD for a few years now and it drastically affects my daily life. I am going to give a quick run through of my OCD, and then the current situation I am in now. So for almost 2 years now my most prominent themes of OCD have been getting sick with the stomach bug (emetaphobia) and watching someone die/ having to see large amount of blood or do CPR on someone (I just graduated nursing school). Last year I stopped eating out, wouldn’t touch any of my food with my hands, would wash my hands until they bleed every day, bleached everything I touched when I was in public etc… I would have these major panic attacks all the time and the thought of getting sick hasn’t left my head 24/7 for 2 years. I was unable to complete my nursing school clinicals due to panic attacks each time I was at the hospital afraid someone would die and get these terrible images in my head. I didn’t sleep ever, barely graduated. I did ERP after school and was able to make up the clinical days I missed. Got to a point where I was eating again, felt like I was able to get my hands clean just by washing them. I have been doing exposures every day, and have accepted that getting sick will probably happen at one point and I am okay with it as long as I am at home when it happens. So locking myself in my apartment for 48hr every time after I could have been exposed to the stomach bug is major progress for me and I have been overall doing much better. Fast forward to now: It’s time for me to start my new job on a med/surg floor in a hospital. This week I have made it through a few days of orientation with panic attacks day and night but I am doing it even though I am petrified. I don’t feel ready for this big of a step, being exposed to both of my biggest fears constantly. Today at orientation the girl sitting next to me told me she had been vomiting all day, and continued to run out of the room a vomit the rest of the day. I now am 90% sure I am going to get sick and feel as if I would rather die than continue this amount of stress and anxiety I have felt from just a few days of being on the job. This is my BIGGEST fear and it’s coming true and I don’t know if it’s worth putting myself through this every day at work to just be having constant panic attacks and be miserable. I know with OCD you have to face your fears but I have been pushing myself and trying so hard and I don’t feel like it’s worth it to work this job. I would also feel incredibly guilty for quitting on the first week, but there are a million other nursing jobs that are not in a hospital. I think this is too big of a step for me right now but I wanted to see what others think. Any advice at all is so appreciated!
I’m feeling kind of sad cause today was not a really good day in terms of my ocd. I was feeling kind of foggy/numb and that send me to spiraling. I’m 21 years old currently studying but my family has been having trouble with money for the last couple years(we’re just me and my mom) and I kinda want to get a job but everything is far from my home and I wouldn’t be able to return back at night, also it’s either way more expensive to move or the schedule wouldn’t let me take my classes. The point is that because of that every time my mom is stress tends to treat me bad, she speaks to me like I’m stupid or she just screams to nothing cursing all life and everything and that actually makes me feel soo bad and guilty for not doing anything, I know it’s hard for me to get a job that actually helps us without quitting school but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like I’m a burden. I want to help, I want to maybe hug her or something but I know she will be angrier and probably will reject it. So that’s it, I just feel like she punishes me for the stress she’s carrying and I get it but one day is happy and it feels like all love and the next is treating me like that, Idk it’s hard (also I feel like I shouldn’t be saying this cause it’s all my fault) 🫤
I can't live with OCD anymore. It's ruining my life. I feel like I'm being constantly bullied in my own mind all day everyday. I don't know if what I think and feel is ever real or normal or okay, what is me and what is the OCD thoughts. I don't know if any of my experiences are normal. I'm exhausted from picking apart every single conversation I ever have with anyone until I'm strung out by a vague and ambiguous feeling of guilt. I'm tired of feeling like I'm a bad person and feeling scared all the time and not knowing why and having my brain spin me out on an endless spiralling train of thoughts that never goes anywhere and just makes me feel disconnected from everything and everyone around me. I don't know what I feel and if what I feel is normal or if anything I am doing is real and actually me or if I'm 'losing my mind.' I don't even know if this makes any sense. I get into these states of mind where every thought in my head and everything I feel and perceive makes me question my own sanity. I don't know if anyone likes me because I have absolutely no concept of what I am actually like. I feel completely lost and confused CONSTANTLY.
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