Studying myself into the ground?

So recently I've been getting a lot of comments from family members and teachers about giving myself a break in regards to studying, and I completely understand what they're saying, but i just can't. I am a huge hypocrite. I will worry about other people's health when they're studying, when in reality, I'm terrible at telling myself when to stop.
I was sent home by a teacher last term as I had worked myself into illness. As my timetable for my second year of college is horrific, I have a massive break in the middle of the day (10:15-2:45), and if I don't work during that time, I feel horrible.
She basically said that it's great that I'm so motivated, but that it's becoming damaging, as she had been witnessing me sitting there chugging along with my work for hours without stopping.
I currently do 3 coursework subjects, and one exam based one, which hasn't helped, but I really love doing them all. (For anyone who's interested, its graphics, IT BTEC, Art EPQ and English lit/language)
Having this much of a workload was going to be risky from the start, I knew this, but because I love drawing, and art, and all that jazz, I didn't care.
I've had to miss a lot of college recently, because i've been getting more and more ill, and my family think it's due to me piling on more work for myself. I've completely knackered myself, but if I stop I feel incredibly anxious. As anyone who does a subject like art, or graphics etc, it's a very competitive and fast paced environment, and I don't feel comfortable unless i'm working on something.
So, I guess my question is: how do I stop being such an idiot?
How do I calm down and tell myself that i'm not going to fail because of taking a break?
And also, is there anyone out there facing a similar situation?

How do I calm down and tell myself that i'm not going to fail because of taking a break?

Because the truth is you won't fail if you take a break. Come back to reality


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Is this related to some kind of anxiety disorder? You need to relax and realise that having downtime and other interests outside of work is good for your studies.

Yeah, I know. I tell other people this, but I can't follow it myself. I haven't been diagnosed with anything, as I haven't been to see anyone about this yet

Why can't you stop studying? Is it a fear of failure? What is going to happen that would be so terrible if you do fail an exam?

And here i am trying to motivate myself to read at least one sentence a day!!

Maybe a work timetable would help?

Please don't make yourself ill over this, it isn't worth it.

I wouldn't say it's fear of failure. I'm just so desperate to actually move forward in life, or at least that's how this started. I set university as my goal, and just never stopped working. It wasn't this bad in the first year of college

If you want to combine reducing the amount of time you spend studying and giving yourself a chance at 'moving forward in life', you could look in to spending some time volunteering (doing something low pressure - you don't want the activity to wear you out even more!!) or doing some society activities. They look good on a CV, and would also give you a bit of a break.

I don't know if you get a feeling of guilt when you take a break, but this way you don't have to feel guilty that you're wasting your time by not working because you're becoming 'well rounded' (or whatever buzzword employers like).