Emailing lecturer about mental health & not being able to complete work

I'm in my final year of uni, coming up to my final week. I've struggled with mental health issues my whole life (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem). My dissertation is due today and I have an oral exam to prepare for next week as well as an assignment for this lecturer, and the past two days it has finally caught up to me and I have been barely functioning - not eating, barely sleeping because the second I close my eyes I feel an anxiety attack coming on, constant headache and feeling sick, my hands are always shaking...

My class on Monday has an 'unofficial' deadline for an output from a field trip we went on. The real due date isn't until June but it's kind of just a class where we show other coursemates our work. I really am doubting I'm gonna get it done in time for that class - with everything that's going on and how I've been reacting to my decline in mental health, I can barely even think straight at this point.

I feel like I should email in advance to let my lecturer know that I'm worried I won't get it done before the class (but of course I'm going to try working on it over the weekend). However, I'm not sure if this is the best idea or how I should word the email if I do go ahead with it... My only other option if I don't get it done would be to not attend the class but it's my final one at university so I'd like to go.

Any advice appreciated!

If it looks like you are going to run into a wall and start missing deadline then yes, you should warn staff in advance. It is always MUCH easier to help a student e.g. by offering an extension than to have an unexpected fail to submit and a retrospective claim for mitigating circumstances.

Note however that the final call on this is almost certainly not the individual lecturer, universities have mitigating circumstances committees to handle this for reasons of fairness and uniformity. That means you also need to let your personal tutor and course leader know.

I'm in my final year of uni, coming up to my final week. I've struggled with mental health issues my whole life (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem). My dissertation is due today and I have an oral exam to prepare for next week as well as an assignment for this lecturer, and the past two days it has finally caught up to me and I have been barely functioning - not eating, barely sleeping because the second I close my eyes I feel an anxiety attack coming on, constant headache and feeling sick, my hands are always shaking...

My class on Monday has an 'unofficial' deadline for an output from a field trip we went on. The real due date isn't until June but it's kind of just a class where we show other course mates our work. I really am doubting I'm gonna get it done in time for that class - with everything that's going on and how I've been reacting to my decline in mental health, I can barely even think straight at this point.

I feel like I should email in advance to let my lecturer know that I'm worried I won't get it done before the class (but of course I'm going to try working on it over the weekend). However, I'm not sure if this is the best idea or how I should word the email if I do go ahead with it... My only other option if I don't get it done would be to not attend the class but it's my final one at university so I'd like to go.

Any advice appreciated!

Hi, thanks for the reply!

The 'deadline' I am worried about missing on Monday is not the official submission date but just something my lecturer prepared for us to present our own work informally. So since it's informal I technically don't have to get an extension since I am sure I will be done by the official deadline in June. That's why I was unsure whether I should email or not since although it is not technically the due date, my lecturer is expecting them to be ready by Monday.