College...Dealing with it.

[KellBell87]

I guess this is more of a vent than anything, but if anyone has any words of advice I'd love it.
It is SO hard dealing with my anxiety/panic/depression while I'm away at school. Its literally ruining my life, I just have no control over it. I was never a bad student before, but my issues are making it seem like I am. Last semester before things got really bad I held up a 3.8 GPA. This semester, my anxiety has taken over and I can't seem to do anything right. I've had to skip classes and leave in the middle of some classes because of my panic attacks. I've had to drop all of my dance classes (I am a dance minor) because ever since my anxiety skyrocket, my body just can't handle it anymore. Dancing used to be the only thing that made me happy. I hate that my anxiety has made it so my physical activity level is like, zero now. Also, here, its like nobody understands me besides my boyfriend and my therapist. My roommate is a 4.0 student, and many of my other friends just have never experienced this before so they don't know.

I would LOVE to just be able to sit through a class without fear of a panic attack and not have to worry about my racing heart or feelings of depersonalization. I would love to be able to sit down, and be able to concentrate. Most of all, I would love getting my motivation back. Right now, I find myself blowing things off and the worst part is I DON'T EVEN CARE. The first round of tests for this semester has arrived and I can't work up the nerve to study or do anything. I should care. I want to care. Its really frusterating that I don't care, and I know others around me are frustrated too. But the only thing I can really care about right now is myself. I am so concerned with just FEELING better, its honestly all I want, I would give up anything for it. But I know that I NEED to do well for my future. Its just sooo hard right now. I feel like maybe I should inform my teachers of this, but I dunno. I don't like telling too many people but its getting to that point.

Uggggh enough of this rambling for now, I am going to try and study for a big test tomorrow, my boyfriend is gonna help me out. Thanks for listening.

[gloomy]

You need to tell your teachers about your anxiety issues.  If they know you are having personal problems it may count towards mitigating circumstances if your marks are not up to scratch also they may be able to reccommend a college counsellor or have access to other help.  Students suffering with stress and anxiety does happen so they may understand better then you think.

Another thing I wanted to say is have you ever tried any anxiety meds?  Some people dont understand about meds and dismiss them as a non option right away.  There is a section in medications and therapy on this forum with some good information in

I am a University student and I have anxiety and am now on meds and it has made my life and studying so much better.

Let me know how you get on and good luck with the exams

[NatalieSF]

Reading your post made me register just so i could write you back! I just turned 20, im a sophomore at san francisco state and I have been dealing with anxiety too. Everything you explained in your post sounds exactly like how i live my life. Since my anxiety, I can never sit through class, i get extremely antsy, can't focus, my palms sweat. My anxiety got really bad over winter break when i had my first full blown panic attack and now that i am back in school i'm noticing how shitty it is to deal with both school and anxiety at the same time. My doctor put me on zoloft and i've also been taking xanax for when it gets really bad...it works wonders. If you arent on any medication i highly recommend getting on some as soon as possible. Although I'm still having anxiety, they have helped me SO much and reduced it to a pretty manageable level. I know how you feel! I feel for you :-)....and if you have any questions just ask me, i hate not having anyone that understands

[Christie]

OMG I can totally relate to what ur experiencing. This is my first year of college away from home. Last semester I had a 3.85 GPA. This semester rolls around and so does the anxiety. Getting through class is a struggle and it is hard to not worry that something more than just anxiety is the problem. I've seem the school doc and she prescribed me clonazepam. I only take half a mg. a day and that seems to help. I'm also seeing a counsellor at the College. I suggest you try some medication just to help you pull through the rest of the semester and then you can face the anxiety and try to overcome it during the summer. Counselling has really helped as well. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling with this. We're in this together so if anyone has any questions or just wants to vent, giver!

[dizziegirl3]

i discovered i had GAD while in college. there were often times i would have to leave class bc i felt sick or like i was going to pass out but i did not understand why until about my 3rd year in school, that was by far the worst. i had this one class where the teacher had a really strick attendence policy...after 3 misses you were dropped...well that was my last class of the day and of course was the class that gave me the most anxiety. i had to speak to my teacher and tell her about my problem. she was very understanding, she told me if i was in class and had to leave to jsut go and she would know why. she also would understand if i missed more than 3 classes. so it can't hurt to talk to your teachers. honeslty after i talked to her i felt a lot better in class just knowing that i had the opporutnity to walk out and not have the teacher wonder why or have would it affect my grade, i hope that you are doing ok, it is a long road believe me, after college it will be a job to tackel, it never ends we just need to learn to live with this! but you'll get through it we all did! best of luck to you