Duke of Edinburgh question?

My school recently started doing the DofE and I was going to take part in it however I'm worried about some parts of it.
I have very bad anxiety and depression and I am really weak so I don't know if its a good idea to start it when I will be really bad in the expedition and presentations. I really wouldn't want to be the only one to be too weak to carry a lot of stuff and have to keep stopping. My anxiety and depression is also a big problem because on an expedition It will probably be really bad and I wouldn't know what to do if I was out in the middle of nowhere.

Is it a good idea for me to start it or should I just leave it?

Reply 1

Anonymous00

Original post by Rari-Chan

I think you should totally do it! I did the DofE a couple of years ago but the group I did it with were so unorganised with their lives that we didn't fix a date for the expedition... sad
It's an awesome opportunity to get to do things that you would genuinely enjoy and I don't think your anxiety or depression will effect you from having a good time :biggrin:

Go for it

Reply 2

Evening

Do it, you won't regret it.

You'll have a dummy run to do, and that's when you'll find out what you enjoy and what you don't like about trecking through the wilderness, what you're good at and what you need to improve on. But the end results is well worth the experience, and it's something you won't forget.

Reply 3

username457532

How old are you? You have until you're 25 (if it the day before your 25th birthday?) to finish so you can sign up and start the other sections and do the expeditions when you're ready. In my experience you have to be more mentally resilient than you think for expeditions. You will be carrying a lot of weight (so try to get fit and eat properly - not just on the expedition but in the weeks beforehand) for many hours then you'll have to put up a tent, cook a meal (potentially when it's pouring with rain), hopefully get some sleep, wake up early enough for breakfast, take down tent, walk more (and more camp stuff if you're doing silver or gold). All whilst being in a small group of people constantly.

I'm not trying to put you off. It's great fun. I did bronze and silver but had got more ill by the time I did gold and crashed after the first day of walking and felt awful that I couldn't cope. Even like 6 or 7 years later doing my silver expedition is one of the things I'm most proud of. But make sure you can cope.

Reply 4

NualaScott

DOFE is an amazing thing to do and you will have so much fun doing it, I've done my bronze silver and gold. However, you have to be physically and mentally fit to be able to do something like this. If you don't carry as much as others or you stop constantly you put more strain onto your team and they will find it harder because you can't keep up. When this happens aswell trust me that your team will all get pissed off and angry with you, even if you can't help it. Everyone can get a little bit high strung when you're walking in the rain for five days and unable to sleep at night.
Another thing is don't do it and then half-way through it decide you've had enough and want to go home. This means other people have to carry your equipment. A girl did this in my team after we'd climbed the biggest hill of the day (it was huge) so when we called the teachers we had to walk all the way back down this hill to drop her off, and then walk all the way back up it. Make sure you're an addition to your team and not a drag. DOFE isn't easy.