Semester beginning

i’m going back next week too and i’m worried. my ocd has gotten much worse over break so im hoping it’ll get better when i have more mental distractions. but im worried now that it’s so bad it’ll affect my school work

Grad school was hard for me but that was pre-diagnosis. I had ocd and didn’t know it. It’s too bad I didn’t know it bc I went though college thinking I’m just broken but it prolly also helped me not over think my mental health as I do now. (It’s like I have meta OCD now and I’m analyzing everything.) Anyways, what I want to say is this: what helped me during grad school is finding things I was really passionate about and inspired by with my studies. And starting to make some friends in my program. It created an inspiring little community for me. And then I also tried to connect witb people outside of school (even if not frequently) so I could come up for air from being so hyperfocused on school. When I was a student I wish someone also told me that taking breaks and sleeping was actually better for my studies than all nighters. Grinding is only going to stress you out but putting effort into developing a routine will help with your studies and mental health more than you know. And maybe that kind of self care will be more pleasant if you make your home environment feel fun, cozy, refreshing.

Oh and the fraud thing .. I think I worried about that but given how hard I worked I started to feel more confident that I was learning a lot. Regardless of whether or not I was good enough to get in

I haven't started grad school but plan on starting soon. I think it's human nature to doubt ourselves and our abilities this isn't inherently driven by OCD but OCD can latch onto our fears and amplify them. Really all you can do is try to do your best and take it a week at a time. It's simple but true. Also, have a plan or support system in place in case your OCD does spike. Before I started college many people said I couldn't do well in college because I barley went to school in high school due to OCD/GAD/depression was so severe. I doubted myself substantially. But I took it one semester at a time and did really well in college while ultimately graduating with a good GPA.