Mental health and fit to sit policy at university

Have you got access to a support worker at university? Do you receive DSA?

I have contacted my university DSA who were lovely and very helpful. I need to submit medical evidence to them which I will do and then they can help me be it temporarily whilst I deal with the current state of affairs or long term if necessary.

i guessed that you hadn't been diagnosed with PTSD yet but as a psychology student who is studying psychology to deal with PTSD (among other things), i am advising you that it will take a long time.

i cant see them kicking you out for mental health problems for a list of reasons. inequality, the papers would have a field day, discrimination laws etc and aside from anything else, you have shown that you can handle it already.

right now i am more concerned about you giving in to fear. you are clearly anxious about the consequences (which is understandable) but your thought processes seem a little off. the reality is that kicking you out of university for mental health reasons would be very bad for them

Hi Richard,

Thanks.

My thought process (if you can even call it a process, more like a jumble) is off. It’s all over the place. I try to deal with one issue and then become completely overwhelmed with everything waiting to jump in on the background.

The last visit to my doctor ended with a ‘wait and see approach’ with reference to potential PTSD (was suffering with avoidance of anything relating to the traumatic events, nightmares, insomnia, and a few other symptoms). Since then it’s escalated and also there are some definite obsessive behavious becoming evident, all when I try to put some perspective on them, relevant to the traumatic events that have resulted in my current state.

Everyone I’ve spoken to has said it’s good I am recognising signs and unhealthy behaviour and patterns and it’s positive I’m seeking help, so that suggests some form of rational thinking. Although I know I’m going to have to be escorted to the doctor as it’s likely I will have a panic attack about and talk myself out of it.

I think you’re right about the university. This is what my anxiety does to me though.....it’s take me to the worst case scenario. It does it with everything, in the scheme of things the university one isn’t bad considering the other worst case scenarios my anxiety takes me to, but in terms of studying it is the worst case for me.

Good luck with your psychology degree! Are you hoping to go into working in Mental Health? Thanks again for your replies.

I have c-ptsd as one of my dx and I reset my entire 2nd year as first sit. I only handed in one essay for the entire year.

This year I’m asking for special circs on 2 essays and will see on the outcome. They can’t kick you off the course but they might suggest taking a study break and it would be worth looking at your options for this. Rather than overloading yourself with work

if you want to talk then feel free to pm me. unloading tension is crucial for everyone and sometimes it is easier to chat online since the other person is unable to act on anything which leaves you fully in control.

i am seeking a whole new direction in life and my aim is to work with the Armed Forces as a therapist. I served 7 years in the Army so i at least understand the people and culture which is half the battle. building a rapport can be skipped which saves time since ex forces form an instant bond and trust relationship upon discovering each others' service background.

there is a PTSD forum if you wish to talk to other survivors. they seem to find it quite helpful for chatting and seeking advice

Hi Richard,

Best of luck in your new direction. It sounds like you are very well suited to helping servicemen/women having been through similar experiences whilst serving!

I've spoken with a local psychotherapist today and am seeing her this week as she wants to see my asap. From the time we spoke she thinks there is definitely OCD at play here, probably stemming from some post traumatic stress and my anxiety disorder. She believes the doctor will up my dose on my anxiety tablets and probably want to prescribe something like Diazepam to generally calm me down (although I don't like the feeling Diazepam).

I've had a terrible throbbing in my ears all day today. It's driving me mad. But in my head it was obviously something threatening and sinister going on in my body when in fact it's probably tension related as I know I am grinding my teeth and constantly clenching my jaw. I had a single random pain in my chest earlier (muscular I think as trying to remember I'm sure I moved quickly at the time) but for about half an hour after I managed to convince myself I was going to die with a heart attack or something. Like I said yesterday, this is what my heightened anxiety does to me....always worst case scenario. I didn't sleep last night either. I have this issue with dying and death currently (not that I want to die, I've developed an unhealthy fear of it...I know it's normal to be afraid of it but this is a really unhealthy obsession with me or someone close to me passing....it makes me feel sick just writing it) and the nightmares seem to take it in turn as to which loved one it will be. Had only been in bed an hour and that was it, I was up for the night. The lack of sleep is definitely not helping obviously.

we do have evolutionary fears (heights, spiders etc) and i agree that fearing death is natural but i still find that to be interesting because unlike other evolutionary fears, it is not something that can be avoided. what is it about death that you fear?

It’s difficult to put into words and something that has quite slowly developed over the last year or so, but has recently erupted into a recurring theme in my mental health. I believe the more recent and overwhelming fear is a reaction to the past few months. It’s not that I want to live forever though....I just don’t know what it is. I’m assuming it’s a fear of death as it features in my anxiety responses frequently and it forms most of my nightmares.

have you tried dream interpretation? dont believe all the nonsense on the internet about certain things meaning this and that. the symbols are very personal and so the manifest content (what you dream) is different for everyone. the key is to figure out what the latent content (the real meaning) is by looking at the content of your dreams and working together (or by yourself) to figure out what the hidden message is. Sigmund Freud says that it is impossible to interpret your own dreams but i disagree. i had some really disturbing dreams last year that made me fear sleeping because of the dreams that i was having. i looked at the dreams and figured out the meaning then they stopped. it might be worth trying that on your own or with your therapist. it might not solve everything but stopping the nightmares would be helpful

i had some really disturbing dreams last year that made me fear sleeping because of the dreams that i was having. i looked at the dreams and figured out the meaning then they stopped. it might be worth trying that on your own or with your therapist. it might not solve everything but stopping the nightmares would be helpful

Sorry to hear you also suffered with disturbing dreams. Glad you managed to get to the bottom of them and they stopped!

I will definitely mention it to the therapist.

Well, today my anxiety is at an all time high. It’s exam day and I think you got it spot on that I am caving into fear. I’ve been sick repeatedly....I will be glad when the start time has come and gone as at least by that time it will be too late......although I don’t know who I’m trying to kid as I know I will spend weeks, months even torturing and beating myself up about missing the exam and waiting to hear the outcome of a concession application. Although by tomorrow I will be obsessing over something else, in addition to the things already obsessive in my head.

I just want peace!!!!!! From myself more than anything else. I hate myself so much.

these things that you obsess about, are they actually important to you or could they be a distraction from the real issues? that could be avoidance (where you deal with something other than the real problem) or it could be transference (you transfer your emotions from something difficult to something easier).

i hope you dont hate yourself because of this behaviour. this is the result of a disorder and does not change who you are, only what you do. none of this makes you a bad person or anything like that so dont be too hard on yourself. your behaviours may be unusual but having anxiety is not. everyone suffers mental health problems at some point so we are all on the scale somewhere at any given time