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Depression affecting uni work
Over the past few days I've been feeling unbelieveably depressed and it's been really affecting my work: the other day I struggled to complete a major essay and barely handed it in before the very last minute. I've had various phases of depression over the years, but it's never been bad enough to affect my work like this though. I'm meant to have prepared to give a presentation tomorrow, which is 25% of the module's marks, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it, it's that bad. I really want to ask the teacher if I can do it in another seminar, but I'm worried that it won't be allowed, as it is a sort of "deadline" and my reason might not qualify for an "extension". To make matters worse, I find it really hard to talk to people about the depression -- outside of Internet anonymity, obviously. Any advice on the situation would be appreciated. Thanks.
It sounds a pretty lonely situation with noone knowing you're struggling although it may feel quite 'safe' too.
If I ask you why you don't anyone - what's the first reason that comes into mind? It's sometimes helpful to verbalise to yourself the feelings that stop you letting other people know - perhaps shame, embarassment....
Depression is a really serious obstacle and you really have a right to support through those dark times. I would strongly advise letting the lecturer in question know - you don't need to elaborate, you can just say, sometimes I feel quite down and I find it reallly difficult to work, and I don't like admitting it but would you be able to give me more time to do this piece of work please. You can say it's not that you don't want to do it because you do and maybe this topic might be very interesting but the depression is getting in the way.
Thinking about the longer term, there is a sizeable chunk of the student population who have had depresssion & other problems and are continuing struggling through uni. The counsellors at the uni health centre know this, that's what they're there for. Many students choose to see a counsellor once a week between their studies and they don't need to tell anyone else about it. It's a space where you can say whatever's been troubling you, all the things you're scared/ embarassed about others knowing, and it stays in that room no further.
It sounds like you've coped with depression before but it's recurred several times so maybe those coping strategies aren't enough, you may need to change approach. Good luck.
If I ask you why you don't anyone - what's the first reason that comes into mind? It's sometimes helpful to verbalise to yourself the feelings that stop you letting other people know - perhaps shame, embarassment....
Depression is a really serious obstacle and you really have a right to support through those dark times. I would strongly advise letting the lecturer in question know - you don't need to elaborate, you can just say, sometimes I feel quite down and I find it reallly difficult to work, and I don't like admitting it but would you be able to give me more time to do this piece of work please. You can say it's not that you don't want to do it because you do and maybe this topic might be very interesting but the depression is getting in the way.
Thinking about the longer term, there is a sizeable chunk of the student population who have had depresssion & other problems and are continuing struggling through uni. The counsellors at the uni health centre know this, that's what they're there for. Many students choose to see a counsellor once a week between their studies and they don't need to tell anyone else about it. It's a space where you can say whatever's been troubling you, all the things you're scared/ embarassed about others knowing, and it stays in that room no further.
It sounds like you've coped with depression before but it's recurred several times so maybe those coping strategies aren't enough, you may need to change approach. Good luck.
If you want an extension then you're probably going to need to see your doctor and be ready to file mitigating circumstances...It is a much more common problem than you'd think and no one's going to look down on your for it, but at the end of the day if you want more time than the other students then you need to be prepared to prove why you need it.
To be honest as depressing as the situation is, if it's affecting your ability to do the work then I'd consider dropping out or switching to a part-time course if you can't handle the strain. I'm not being negative but I'm just saying the work at university can be tedious, tiresome and boring. It takes a great deal of personal motivation to cram before exams and do assignments on time. If you can't produce that motivation then you are struggling to get through university. Maybe it'd be better going to a psychiatric consultation and get the opinion of a trained professional, s/he will have advice to give you on how to manage work loads despite your mental status and whether or not you have a realistic chance of turning things around in a short-term period.
What you need to do is immediatly admit to yourself that you are suffering from depression and that you need to solve this problem. Depression is not the same thing as being sad, nothing will "cheer you up". What you need to do is go on a healthy eating diet right now, and excercise as much as you possibly can. Excersise will be of big help to you as it gets your blood flow pumping and will help restore the chemical balance of your brain.
One thing which is paramount to you solving this problem is that you do NOT sit around, or lay in your bed all day sleeping. That will make things WORSE. If you feel tired, then besides natural sleep, no amount of "resting" will make you feel better. Get up, get active, stay sharp, on the edge, where you gotta be!
You also need to consider wether your depression is severe or light. If it's severe then you need medication right now. If it's light, you should still see a doctor, tell him exactly what you're going through and see what he says. Do not ignore the problem as it could potentially get worse.
Depression is not a mental illness, it's a physical state of mind due to certain hormonal imbalances in the brain. It can be cause by an unhealthy diet and innactiveness. Do not let it slow down your mind and body, whatever you do stay active!
One thing which is paramount to you solving this problem is that you do NOT sit around, or lay in your bed all day sleeping. That will make things WORSE. If you feel tired, then besides natural sleep, no amount of "resting" will make you feel better. Get up, get active, stay sharp, on the edge, where you gotta be!
You also need to consider wether your depression is severe or light. If it's severe then you need medication right now. If it's light, you should still see a doctor, tell him exactly what you're going through and see what he says. Do not ignore the problem as it could potentially get worse.
Depression is not a mental illness, it's a physical state of mind due to certain hormonal imbalances in the brain. It can be cause by an unhealthy diet and innactiveness. Do not let it slow down your mind and body, whatever you do stay active!
I really would advise you to go and see a doctor, and then go and tell your personal tutor or year tutor what's going on (or any sympathetic lecturer who you think would be prepared to act as an intermediary). They'll be able to help you to organise new deadlines for coursework/ take the strain off you. Lots of people suffer from depression at university so they should be used to dealing with similar situations: I suffered from depression in my third year and my department organised to give me massive extensions on all my coursework- i got everything in, got good marks, and now I'm a PhD student, so I'd say 'dropping out' is definately a last resort! Oh, and I know many of my friends found the uni counsellors really helpful: if you're nervous about speaking to your department perhaps you should go and talk to them about what options you have.
Matt Murdock
What you need to do is immediatly admit to yourself that you are suffering from depression and that you need to solve this problem. Depression is not the same thing as being sad, nothing will "cheer you up". What you need to do is go on a healthy eating diet right now, and excercise as much as you possibly can. Excersise will be of big help to you as it gets your blood flow pumping and will help restore the chemical balance of your brain.
One thing which is paramount to you solving this problem is that you do NOT sit around, or lay in your bed all day sleeping. That will make things WORSE. If you feel tired, then besides natural sleep, no amount of "resting" will make you feel better. Get up, get active, stay sharp, on the edge, where you gotta be!
You also need to consider wether your depression is severe or light. If it's severe then you need medication right now. If it's light, you should still see a doctor, tell him exactly what you're going through and see what he says. Do not ignore the problem as it could potentially get worse.
Depression is not a mental illness, it's a physical state of mind due to certain hormonal imbalances in the brain. It can be cause by an unhealthy diet and innactiveness. Do not let it slow down your mind and body, whatever you do stay active!
One thing which is paramount to you solving this problem is that you do NOT sit around, or lay in your bed all day sleeping. That will make things WORSE. If you feel tired, then besides natural sleep, no amount of "resting" will make you feel better. Get up, get active, stay sharp, on the edge, where you gotta be!
You also need to consider wether your depression is severe or light. If it's severe then you need medication right now. If it's light, you should still see a doctor, tell him exactly what you're going through and see what he says. Do not ignore the problem as it could potentially get worse.
Depression is not a mental illness, it's a physical state of mind due to certain hormonal imbalances in the brain. It can be cause by an unhealthy diet and innactiveness. Do not let it slow down your mind and body, whatever you do stay active!
I agree with a lot of this.
Iscariot
I agree with a lot of this.
My dad suffers from depression, as have I just this last summer, plus we studied depression in high school in our psychology class, so I know a bit about the subject. It's a very dangerous thing if not taken seriously, but if you attack the problem in the correct way, things can only get better.
When I was depressed in the summertime, it was because of inactiveness. I was simply so tired after my exams(I crammed like noone has crammed before, litterally studying all day long, every day), which resulted in me just not wanting to do anything at all. Well that became a problem because after a while I got tired of doing nothing, I started to get weird ideas in my head like heaven and hell, dying and living forever and no matter what conclusion I came up with in these ponderings I was never happy. At the end I discovered that the reason for me not finding peace was that I was depressed and that was the reason for my negative thoughts. As soon as I realised I was depressed, I joined the gym, worked out, became more active in my daily life, and things got better quite quickly. I was lucky though as it was a very light depression and I managed to halt its progression. Therefore it's important to do something fast.
Another thing to note is that when you're depressed, you become physically tired and all you wanna do is lay in your bed and sleep all day. This is bad. The tirednes will go away if you don't give in to your urges to "relax", because no matter how much you rest, you'll remain tired. It's a viscious cycle, so you have to get out of it.
Sorry for my rant, but I was hoping that some of my experiences could be of help to the threadstarter and other people.
Matt Murdock
Another thing to note is that when you're depressed, you become physically tired and all you wanna do is lay in your bed and sleep all day. This is bad. The tirednes will go away if you don't give in to your urges to "relax", because no matter how much you rest, you'll remain tired. It's a viscious cycle, so you have to get out of it.
Aye, I found that. I go for a 30 minute jog each morning and then come back and do 30 press ups and sit ups. Ive arrested my weight gain at least, now need to loose some.
Read what Murdock says - alot of validity there.
Uhm, hi everyone...
I'm currently in my 4th year of uni (took a year extension to finish my thesis/capstone/dissertation) and all I can say is that I have been suffering from some sort of depression for around the last 2-2 1/2 years now...I don't really know how to describe it aside from just a general and growing feeling of disinterest in virtually everything...Sure, when I am forced (through circumstance, luck or me mustering enough courage to go outside) to hang out with my friends or family I try to seem as fine as possible (I've come to realize that I use humor and laughter quite allot to mask my real feelings) but in reality I just simply don't care anymore, even about things that should really bring life into me...There are so many examples I can use to represent this...I tend to stay inside my apartment doing literally nothing for long periods of time (usually going into the early hours of the morning) when I could/SHOULD be working or hanging out with my friends at university (one of which is an honest drunk (which is one thing I love about him) who tells me every time he gets tipsy that we need to hang out more along with asking me why I don't meet up with him during breaks in the classes we share)...I am extremely shy around women (long story, I faced rejection from virtually every girl I have every opened up to since a young age) even though I desperately want someone to talk to (my family finds it strange that I sometimes talk/joke to myself when i'm reading the news for example, and I don't really know when that started), even the ones who are so clearly attracted to me it's ridiculous (another reason to thank my honest drunk friend who lives on the same floor as a girl who apparently has a crush on me, for what reason I don't know), and I continuously avoid talking with anyone of the opposite sex unless I am in some way inebriated (either drunk or stoned, don't worry I live in Holland), in which case the next day I normally forget what I said and just continue on...I literally don't think of time in days anymore, just simply what hour it is and whether I can get, say 7 hours of sleep before I have to do something (of which I normally don't)...My motivation is below rock bottom, partly thanks to the aforementioned reasons and also thanks to my mother (no offense to her) who's idea of motivation is through telling me how my current results are bad and I can do better (never saying well done, for example, instead saying, why is this not this). Then again I can't really blame her because I've never really opened up to her about how I feel (because I honestly believe it would destroy her heart in a figurative sense of course - she used to say I was her favorite child out of her 3, kind, sweet and honest, and now I am sometimes ashamed to look at my reflection in the mirror). My Dad genuinely seems to care, but I don't want to bring him down as well because we've just started having a mature father-son relationship (he offers to go out with me to get coffee or lunch some days for example).. Sometimes I can't go to sleep because I look back on my life and try to understand the way I act, or because I am worrying about all the work I am leaving until past the last minute, I try drinking Camomile tea (insert laughter here) in order to help but it's never enough... None of my teachers, friends, family or my uni tutor know this, and honestly I am too ashamed to tell them (I was eligible to join my honors class at the beginning of my second year, because I had a G.P.A of 7.9/10, but now that has dropped to below 7)...
I'm not really sure if i'm asking for help, or just trying to find an outlet to say what I feel, I honestly don't know...I just want to bring back the times when me and my brother would have genuine fun together, when me and my mum, dad and sister would joke around, when I would care about my work and actually feel like it was possible to actually go places, when I actually enjoyed waking up to a new day....But I don't know how....
Forgive me for this long, windy and whining post
Elliott
I'm currently in my 4th year of uni (took a year extension to finish my thesis/capstone/dissertation) and all I can say is that I have been suffering from some sort of depression for around the last 2-2 1/2 years now...I don't really know how to describe it aside from just a general and growing feeling of disinterest in virtually everything...Sure, when I am forced (through circumstance, luck or me mustering enough courage to go outside) to hang out with my friends or family I try to seem as fine as possible (I've come to realize that I use humor and laughter quite allot to mask my real feelings) but in reality I just simply don't care anymore, even about things that should really bring life into me...There are so many examples I can use to represent this...I tend to stay inside my apartment doing literally nothing for long periods of time (usually going into the early hours of the morning) when I could/SHOULD be working or hanging out with my friends at university (one of which is an honest drunk (which is one thing I love about him) who tells me every time he gets tipsy that we need to hang out more along with asking me why I don't meet up with him during breaks in the classes we share)...I am extremely shy around women (long story, I faced rejection from virtually every girl I have every opened up to since a young age) even though I desperately want someone to talk to (my family finds it strange that I sometimes talk/joke to myself when i'm reading the news for example, and I don't really know when that started), even the ones who are so clearly attracted to me it's ridiculous (another reason to thank my honest drunk friend who lives on the same floor as a girl who apparently has a crush on me, for what reason I don't know), and I continuously avoid talking with anyone of the opposite sex unless I am in some way inebriated (either drunk or stoned, don't worry I live in Holland), in which case the next day I normally forget what I said and just continue on...I literally don't think of time in days anymore, just simply what hour it is and whether I can get, say 7 hours of sleep before I have to do something (of which I normally don't)...My motivation is below rock bottom, partly thanks to the aforementioned reasons and also thanks to my mother (no offense to her) who's idea of motivation is through telling me how my current results are bad and I can do better (never saying well done, for example, instead saying, why is this not this). Then again I can't really blame her because I've never really opened up to her about how I feel (because I honestly believe it would destroy her heart in a figurative sense of course - she used to say I was her favorite child out of her 3, kind, sweet and honest, and now I am sometimes ashamed to look at my reflection in the mirror). My Dad genuinely seems to care, but I don't want to bring him down as well because we've just started having a mature father-son relationship (he offers to go out with me to get coffee or lunch some days for example).. Sometimes I can't go to sleep because I look back on my life and try to understand the way I act, or because I am worrying about all the work I am leaving until past the last minute, I try drinking Camomile tea (insert laughter here) in order to help but it's never enough... None of my teachers, friends, family or my uni tutor know this, and honestly I am too ashamed to tell them (I was eligible to join my honors class at the beginning of my second year, because I had a G.P.A of 7.9/10, but now that has dropped to below 7)...
I'm not really sure if i'm asking for help, or just trying to find an outlet to say what I feel, I honestly don't know...I just want to bring back the times when me and my brother would have genuine fun together, when me and my mum, dad and sister would joke around, when I would care about my work and actually feel like it was possible to actually go places, when I actually enjoyed waking up to a new day....But I don't know how....
Forgive me for this long, windy and whining post
Elliott
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by nackai
Uhm, hi everyone...
I'm currently in my 4th year of uni (took a year extension to finish my thesis/capstone/dissertation) and all I can say is that I have been suffering from some sort of depression for around the last 2-2 1/2 years now...I don't really know how to describe it aside from just a general and growing feeling of disinterest in virtually everything...Sure, when I am forced (through circumstance, luck or me mustering enough courage to go outside) to hang out with my friends or family I try to seem as fine as possible (I've come to realize that I use humor and laughter quite allot to mask my real feelings) but in reality I just simply don't care anymore, even about things that should really bring life into me...There are so many examples I can use to represent this...I tend to stay inside my apartment doing literally nothing for long periods of time (usually going into the early hours of the morning) when I could/SHOULD be working or hanging out with my friends at university (one of which is an honest drunk (which is one thing I love about him) who tells me every time he gets tipsy that we need to hang out more along with asking me why I don't meet up with him during breaks in the classes we share)...I am extremely shy around women (long story, I faced rejection from virtually every girl I have every opened up to since a young age) even though I desperately want someone to talk to (my family finds it strange that I sometimes talk/joke to myself when i'm reading the news for example, and I don't really know when that started), even the ones who are so clearly attracted to me it's ridiculous (another reason to thank my honest drunk friend who lives on the same floor as a girl who apparently has a crush on me, for what reason I don't know), and I continuously avoid talking with anyone of the opposite sex unless I am in some way inebriated (either drunk or stoned, don't worry I live in Holland), in which case the next day I normally forget what I said and just continue on...I literally don't think of time in days anymore, just simply what hour it is and whether I can get, say 7 hours of sleep before I have to do something (of which I normally don't)...My motivation is below rock bottom, partly thanks to the aforementioned reasons and also thanks to my mother (no offense to her) who's idea of motivation is through telling me how my current results are bad and I can do better (never saying well done, for example, instead saying, why is this not this). Then again I can't really blame her because I've never really opened up to her about how I feel (because I honestly believe it would destroy her heart in a figurative sense of course - she used to say I was her favorite child out of her 3, kind, sweet and honest, and now I am sometimes ashamed to look at my reflection in the mirror). My Dad genuinely seems to care, but I don't want to bring him down as well because we've just started having a mature father-son relationship (he offers to go out with me to get coffee or lunch some days for example).. Sometimes I can't go to sleep because I look back on my life and try to understand the way I act, or because I am worrying about all the work I am leaving until past the last minute, I try drinking Camomile tea (insert laughter here) in order to help but it's never enough... None of my teachers, friends, family or my uni tutor know this, and honestly I am too ashamed to tell them (I was eligible to join my honors class at the beginning of my second year, because I had a G.P.A of 7.9/10, but now that has dropped to below 7)...
I'm not really sure if i'm asking for help, or just trying to find an outlet to say what I feel, I honestly don't know...I just want to bring back the times when me and my brother would have genuine fun together, when me and my mum, dad and sister would joke around, when I would care about my work and actually feel like it was possible to actually go places, when I actually enjoyed waking up to a new day....But I don't know how....
Forgive me for this long, windy and whining post
Elliott
I'm currently in my 4th year of uni (took a year extension to finish my thesis/capstone/dissertation) and all I can say is that I have been suffering from some sort of depression for around the last 2-2 1/2 years now...I don't really know how to describe it aside from just a general and growing feeling of disinterest in virtually everything...Sure, when I am forced (through circumstance, luck or me mustering enough courage to go outside) to hang out with my friends or family I try to seem as fine as possible (I've come to realize that I use humor and laughter quite allot to mask my real feelings) but in reality I just simply don't care anymore, even about things that should really bring life into me...There are so many examples I can use to represent this...I tend to stay inside my apartment doing literally nothing for long periods of time (usually going into the early hours of the morning) when I could/SHOULD be working or hanging out with my friends at university (one of which is an honest drunk (which is one thing I love about him) who tells me every time he gets tipsy that we need to hang out more along with asking me why I don't meet up with him during breaks in the classes we share)...I am extremely shy around women (long story, I faced rejection from virtually every girl I have every opened up to since a young age) even though I desperately want someone to talk to (my family finds it strange that I sometimes talk/joke to myself when i'm reading the news for example, and I don't really know when that started), even the ones who are so clearly attracted to me it's ridiculous (another reason to thank my honest drunk friend who lives on the same floor as a girl who apparently has a crush on me, for what reason I don't know), and I continuously avoid talking with anyone of the opposite sex unless I am in some way inebriated (either drunk or stoned, don't worry I live in Holland), in which case the next day I normally forget what I said and just continue on...I literally don't think of time in days anymore, just simply what hour it is and whether I can get, say 7 hours of sleep before I have to do something (of which I normally don't)...My motivation is below rock bottom, partly thanks to the aforementioned reasons and also thanks to my mother (no offense to her) who's idea of motivation is through telling me how my current results are bad and I can do better (never saying well done, for example, instead saying, why is this not this). Then again I can't really blame her because I've never really opened up to her about how I feel (because I honestly believe it would destroy her heart in a figurative sense of course - she used to say I was her favorite child out of her 3, kind, sweet and honest, and now I am sometimes ashamed to look at my reflection in the mirror). My Dad genuinely seems to care, but I don't want to bring him down as well because we've just started having a mature father-son relationship (he offers to go out with me to get coffee or lunch some days for example).. Sometimes I can't go to sleep because I look back on my life and try to understand the way I act, or because I am worrying about all the work I am leaving until past the last minute, I try drinking Camomile tea (insert laughter here) in order to help but it's never enough... None of my teachers, friends, family or my uni tutor know this, and honestly I am too ashamed to tell them (I was eligible to join my honors class at the beginning of my second year, because I had a G.P.A of 7.9/10, but now that has dropped to below 7)...
I'm not really sure if i'm asking for help, or just trying to find an outlet to say what I feel, I honestly don't know...I just want to bring back the times when me and my brother would have genuine fun together, when me and my mum, dad and sister would joke around, when I would care about my work and actually feel like it was possible to actually go places, when I actually enjoyed waking up to a new day....But I don't know how....
Forgive me for this long, windy and whining post
Elliott
Your best off making your own post & a summary at the end of what the points are.
Original post by Anonymous
Over the past few days I've been feeling unbelieveably depressed and it's been really affecting my work: the other day I struggled to complete a major essay and barely handed it in before the very last minute. I've had various phases of depression over the years, but it's never been bad enough to affect my work like this though. I'm meant to have prepared to give a presentation tomorrow, which is 25% of the module's marks, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it, it's that bad. I really want to ask the teacher if I can do it in another seminar, but I'm worried that it won't be allowed, as it is a sort of "deadline" and my reason might not qualify for an "extension". To make matters worse, I find it really hard to talk to people about the depression -- outside of Internet anonymity, obviously. Any advice on the situation would be appreciated. Thanks.
Get yoursf into a routine. Treat study like a 9 to 5 oon. So no sleeping in till midday.
Eat healthy.
Go down the gym regularly.
Have down time.
Learn the differce between mild atress and depression.
Get a book on time management.
You're not unique and not special. I went throug everything you have and wish I'd filled my own advice I'm giving now.
Thread locked due to age. Please feel free to start your own thread about this topic, you'll be more likely to get more personalised responses.
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