Disability severely affecting third year studies

This year my depression became so bad that my health deteriorated severely, I was unable to perform very basic tasks, I lived alone while studying my third year and was advised to move back home (200+ miles away) to receive support and to be in contact with my GP.

I have never had a disorder which has affected my life so much and as a result I am seeking help from my GP (waiting times are horrendous tbh) and I don't know where to start again with my studies.

If I return to my current university, I will have to repeat third year before I can progress to my fourth year. I do not know if I will survive another two years of living like that. I also do not know how to apply for additional support including financial support, especially because I have no official diagnosis and I do not know how long this will take.

Because I had to remove myself from study for my third year, I didn't get my final student loans payment of nearly £2k, which means I have no money for food or paying rent at home for the entire summer, if I were fit enough to get a job I would not have had to leave university in the first place. It also means I have absolutely no money for a deposit or savings for next year (I always save my final payment to live on at the start of the following year). So I don't even know if I could return to university as I won't be able to afford a deposit or rent or food (SFE payments always come after the course starts).

I also don't know if Student Finance will fund me for another two years, as I only had one year of funding left to be paid before all of this happened. My social anxiety means that I can't make any sort of phone calls without being extremely likely to suffer from panic attacks (can't even order food over the phone) and SFE don't have a contact email or any reliable way to inform them of any of this that isn't via a phone.

The best outcome I can see is if I am allowed to transfer to a university that is in my home city, so I can live at home, pay rent to my parents while receiving support, be within walking distance of my GP.

Essentially I'm clueless and trying to figure this all out with severe depression when if I could absorb and take on new important information I wouldn't have had to drop my course. I'm over 20 so there is never going to be any outside support for me, I just need some advice from anyone who has gone through anything similar, where do I start, is there any way I can continue studying as outlined above, what am I supposed to be doing in regards to getting a diagnosis, etc? I just have no idea and trying to figure it out alone I am in the absolute worst condition for doing so.

The best outcome I can see is if I am allowed to transfer to a university that is in my home city, so I can live at home, pay rent to my parents while receiving support, be within walking distance of my GP.

Hi Christa,

I have been in a very similar situation to the one you find yourself in (made it 40 credits into 3rd year of a 4 year degree in Scotland before becoming very unwell with a MH condition and having to return home 300 miles away).

My first recommendation would be to see a good GP at your Practice and ask for a referral to the local Community Mental Health Team. Let your GP know how severely affected by Depression you are and that you will need therapy and support in order to recover and either return to studying or seek employment. If s/he refuses this referral then ask to be referred for a counselling or CBT.

I tried to go back to third year too soon after becoming unwell (with a condition which had been diagnosed in and previously lead to a breakdown in my teens) and ended up leaving again (albeit on a leave of absence, rather than withdrawal) so my second piece of advice would be to make sure you are a lot better before returning to your course or considering transferring to a Uni close to home. As you were unable to function, this is likely to recur under stress.

As jelly has said you can get extra student funding by providing evidence of 'Compelling Personal Reasons' from your GP or University. Everyone is entitled to 'Length of course + 1 year' even without evidence but you can get an extra year (and possibly more) with evidence

Once you have a diagnosis you could consider making a claim for Personal Independence Payment, unlike other benefits you can claim it as a full-time student (from your post it sounds like you're still registered as on leave from your course?). provided you have problems with basic self care (e.g. showering, dressing, motivating yourself to do these things) or communicating with other people.

Sorry for cutting down your post, and I'm sure you'll get good advice on other aspects of your illness/situation. It's good that you are seeking help and I hope things will improve for you.

I wanted to tackle this point specifically, as it looks like you only have 1, or at best 2 years of funding left. SFE will normally fund you for the length of your course +1 extra year, so repeating a year once should be funded.

However, it is very very unlikely that any university will accept a transfer into third year, although it might be slightly more likely if you were to be transferring onto another 4 year course. It is unfortunately more likely that you'd be asked to transfer into second year and your repeated second year would not be funded by SFE.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I think it's best to be prepared for the most likely outcome rather than investing a lot of hope into a solution that isn't possible.

I also agree that it might be better to continue to focus on your mental health, rather than rushing back to uni.

If you have a look at mine and another persons post you'll see that you can claim compelling personal reasons if you have to stop studying for health reasons which the OP clearly has so as long as they have evidence they will be fine in that respect.

Hey,

So my step dad died whist I was at uni, during the Christmas brake (2014/15) I tried to start again at a closer uni, Northumbria, but due to my depression and it not being treated correctly, until this year, I failed my year at northumbria. We are currently in 2016 and I failed my year at Northumbria due to taking care of my family as well as myself. I will be sending a letter from myself as well as a doctors note and a letter from my supervisor. This whole situation has forced me into depression, anxiety attacks as well as loss of appetite and night terrors - all of which are noted in the doctors notes and my supervisors letter along with his actual death certificate. My question is, will that be enough evidence? And if I dont get CPR, what would be the main reason for rejection?