anxiety about starting my course and the academic writing requirements
Hi i am accepted on the occupational therapy course at Lancaster at the university of cumbria I've been trying to skim read some books to get an idea of content of what we will study on the course are academic books always so dry to read I have dyslexia so struggle with understanding what I have read due to my processing speed if I want to sustain any kind of reading I have to listen to music whilst reading to keep my interest and motivation it was the same for my psychology degree back in 2016 I'm just really worried that I won't be able to keep up with the reading requirements of the course I've got such bad anxiety I'm also rubbish at writing academically I used to be so good but something happened to me and since my breakdown in 2018 I've really struggled academically. I'm having counselling so that's all taken care of my mental health but I just really am scared about making friends and learning and completing this course
Have you spoken to course tutors/welfare officers about your issues? Did you mention it during application? If you can prove you have a disability and/or mental health issue then they will be able to cut some slack and maybe assign someone to help you. If it's really bad you should maybe talk to a GP and find out about local mental health services.
But you do also need to tell yourself you've successfully completed a degree before, you'll be able to do it again. Don't aim for the highest marks, just for what you can physically and mentally do without pushing yourself too hard. I'm not a therapist so you do need to speak to a professional, but personally, a lot of my issues were caused not by my academic ability falling, but by setting myself goals I couldn't reach and bashing myself over the head when I didn't reach them.
But you do also need to tell yourself you've successfully completed a degree before, you'll be able to do it again. Don't aim for the highest marks, just for what you can physically and mentally do without pushing yourself too hard. I'm not a therapist so you do need to speak to a professional, but personally, a lot of my issues were caused not by my academic ability falling, but by setting myself goals I couldn't reach and bashing myself over the head when I didn't reach them.
thankyou yes i realise i have a lot of issues and that's why I'm in counselling and under a community mental health team I just want a normal persons perspective to give me some clarity on whether this is a normal thing to worry about I also have a meeting with aspire tutor services since my last post they are going to arrange my dsa support
