7 years to complete bachelor's (AMA)

I want to start off by saying this...
I see how hard you are trying, I see how difficult it is and yet you are still pushing through. You got this.

*My story*

I'm someone who suffered with really bad mental health at university. I have been suffering with bad mental health all my life and I never got that sorted. Therefore, it's my belief that if you think you suffer from a mental health problem then it's best to find ways to manage that before entering into university.

It can really affect you.

I'm now in £75k debt and have taken 7 years to finish my Bachelor's. I finally finished and achieved my degree but it's been a major setback and I'm surprised that I am still here, pushing through...despite the mental pain.

What I want to say to university students is...life at university is very different. Of course you can scrape through with doing the bare minimum but one day it will catch up to you, and when the stress peaks it might cause you to have a major breakdown (like it did me, but hopefully that's not the case for you).

I hope you have people outside of university you can speak to for support and if you don't you can ask me anything here and you can also reach out to your university for support ( I didn't even know these services existed and were there to help me in the first two years).

Also, it's important to focus on your education as much of a bore as it seems (or maybe not because you actually have passion for what you are studying).

What I'm trying to say is mental health very important and you should take care of it. I hope and wish for all the best for you.

Reply 1

black tea

what degree did you do? what help did you get with your mental health (and did it help)?

Reply 2

throw-away11

Original post

by black tea

what degree did you do? what help did you get with your mental health (and did it help)?

I did a STEM degree, engineering...and I received help from the GP, which was helpful somewhat, but because the right problem wasn't being addressed (the right mental health diagnosis), it didn't help much until I ended up with a mental health charity who kind of supported me through it and finally received the right help.

Reply 3

black tea

Original post

by throw-away11

Glad you got the right help eventually. What's the plan now that you have graduated?

Reply 4

throw-away11

Original post

by black tea

Glad you got the right help eventually. What's the plan now that you have graduated?

Hmm thanks for the question, now i am just job hunting and seeing if anyone would hire someone like me lol

But if that doesnt work then ill try another course...

Reply 5

black tea

Original post

by throw-away11

Hmm thanks for the question, now i am just job hunting and seeing if anyone would hire someone like me lol
But if that doesnt work then ill try another course...