Posted by CareBear04 on January 18, 2008, at 21:08:37
Argh! It's tough keeping up with your life when you're depressed, maybe even more when you're in school. At least in the workplace, you're entitled to some accomodation for your illness and [in theory] protected from employment discrimination. school, though, has a pace of its own, and it moves on whether or not you can keep up. I don't know what options I have if I just need a little time to somehow get my mood back on track because I'm caught in a vicious cycle where I'm too depressed to make it to classes or to prepare or focus, and falling behind makes catching up seem overwhelming, which makes me more depressed. depression + constant anxiety also keeps me awake and kills my appetite. i'm too busy to eat, i'm not hungry, and when i do, food seems to stick to my throat. i already have a lot of nutritional deficiencies, which no doubt make me more sluggish and could be causing some of the neuropsych changes.
what i don't want is to have to take a medical leave and withdraw for the term. My courses continue over two terms, so until the end of the quarter, i don't have final grades. if i withdraw now, i'd have to repeat the whole first quarter. My pdoc suggested some time off as an option and offered to write a letter, but, as appealing as that sounds, I don't know whether it would help. this quarter is just jam-packed with five classes a day, and missing one day of one class is a setback. The classes this quarter are much less lecture-based and more socratic method/discussion, so one person's notes don't really capture what went on in class. I don't even know if there's a practical difference between unexplained absences and absences justified for medical reasons. If not, I'd much rather preserve my privacy and be penalized for absences than explain myself to the dean for no resulting benefit. my initial impression is that the administration has no control over professors' attendance policies, especially to the extent that they are only enforcing what is supposed to be the general rule. the ABA requires 80% attendance in order to sit for exams.
does anyone have any experience with this type of situation? any suggestions as to what i can do to keep on track in school while still being able to block out the stressors in order to gain some ground in getting mentally and physically healthy?
thanks everyone! i've never posted on this board, but it seems like it could be a really good forum for support.
CB
poster:CareBear04
thread:807509
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/studs/20070526/msgs/807509.html