Is applying for Oxford with mental health issues a bad idea?

I'm predicted A*AA, with my course's standard offer being AAA. I wanted to apply for Oxford because I love the course, location and tutorial system.
But, I don't feel pretty unconfident I'll get the grades I need, as my mental health throughout Y12 made studying at times impossible and I'm scared I won't be able to manage the workload at Oxford if even with support. I fear it might be too much.
Point is, I'm torn. I think I'd be capable of managing it if I was just a less anxious person, but I also don't want to throw away the dream either and allow my mental health to control my life and future. Should I just apply and see what happens?

I can empathise with why you're torn! It's very tricky Oxford terms are ruthless and wait for no one, whether that's a broken arm or Freshers' Flu or mental health difficulties. And I believe many Oxford degrees use third year results only - so if you have a bad few weeks during exam time, it can feel very punitive. So it can be hard to know whether to give it a go or not.
I'm not comfortable saying whether I think you should apply or not. I have very strong views on mental health at Oxford, due to my own time and experiences there. I don't want to assume what happened to me would happen to you, or pretend that my experience is the only one: there are other disabled/neurodivergent Oxford alumna who've had positive experiences of support at Oxford.
The advice I am comfortable and confident giving would be, if you do apply, to remember that you don't need to accept an offer if you're made one. If you want to accept an offer, that's understandable, but you must go in with your eyes open. If you apply and are made an offer, my suggestion would be to do as much fact-finding as you can about the support your college and the wider uni would provide for you, both throughout your course and particularly regarding exams. What would happen if you fell behind with work (outside of exams) - and what reasonable adjustments would they make for you, regarding exams? Would your diagnosis (assuming you may have one?)/mental health be taken into consideration when the marks are allocated, if you have underperformed on the day, for example?
Compare the info that Oxford is able to provide you with, to the info given by all your other unis. Are you happy and satisfied with Oxford says? Is Oxford able to give ample info? These are questions you should consider seriously, before accepting an offer, imho
Best of luck with figuring out what to do

Which degree course? Some degrees at Oxford have much less work than others. For example Arts students can have a few lectures only a week and one essay but Science students have a full 40 hour week.

I’m applying for History. I guess my concern is less about the workload of the course specifically but the fact that if I’m struggling with my mental health and my A-levels, then it seems silly to think I’d be able to handle Oxford. As much as I WISH I could, because everything else seems like a perfect match, I’m just unsure if I’m letting imposter syndrome get to me or if I’m right to be concerned.

@Stiffy Byng studied History at Wadham College, Oxford and is now a barrister. She has mentioned in some posts that some students don't even attend any lectures. But there are essays to write. So, can you handle writing 2 or 3 essays a week?

I’d like to say I’d be able to. For context, my teachers seem to believe I have the work ethic to handle it. But, personally, I’m a very anxious person and can struggle when I large tasks, which makes me think I wouldn’t be able to.
Another issue is that I just don’t know what my mental health will be like by the end Y13. Since starting counselling at the start of Y12 I’ve certainly improved with managing my anxiety. So, by that logic by the time I start uni I’d be able to manage it well enough to manage the essays. But, for all I know that won’t be the case and then I’ll end up really struggling.
I think my best option is to apply and then decide later if I want to take the offer. That way, if my mental health worsens I can reject, and if it improves I don’t have to regret not applying.

Opinions on this subject vary, and you may hear some dogmatic expressions of opinion from people who have no first hand experience of being an undergraduate at Oxford.
Mental health support for students at collegiate universities appears to be as good if not better than support at other universities. This is because colleges are small and well-resourced, students often live in college or go in to college often, and the colleges allocate full time staff and volunteer postgraduate students to monitor student welfare.
At my daughter's college, for example, there are two Deans (one for welfare, one for disciplinary and performance matters), a mental health nurse, and two D Phil candidates with welfare training who are on 24/7 call to assist distressed students. The Master of the college is an approachable and empathetic woman in her fifties, much liked by the students, who call her Judy B.
When I was an undergraduate long ago, support consisted of "pull yourself together", or "have another sherry". The college doctor would push valium and sleeping pills if asked (if you were female, he'd also say "take your top off, let's have a check" - it was a different world). You could drink beer and smoke weed, and drop Acid if you felt experimental. X/M had not been invented yet, only the posh kids at Christ Church could afford Charlie, and nobody would think of taking a horse tranquiliser for fun or to help with their mood.
It is arguable that support now amounts to overkill in some instances. Some Gen Z students and their parents may be mistaking ordinary life challenges for mental illness or other diagnosable conditions. Also, universities are unfairly being tasked with work that the NHS should do but cannot do because of lack of resources.
Oxford can undoubtedly be a stressful place. Students may work forty hours a week or so. The typical workload requires about three essays a fortnight, and a tutorial for each essay (one to one, one to two, or in groups of up to four students per tutor). There may be problem sheets for STEM students, and they also do practicals in labs.
Lectures are optional. STEM students tend to go to lectures, Many humanities students attend no lectures or few lectures. An hour in the library can be worth much more than an hour at a lecture. I went to no history lectures at all (I sometimes went to an English lecture for fun). My daughter, reading law, went to to about five or six lectures during the academic year just concluded.
Oxford is socially intense too, with non-stop partying and activities (but all optional). Oxford may be best suited to socially confident people, but quiet people can be happy there too. It's cool to be a nerd at Oxford.
Peer group support tends to be good, as long as you don't commit some perceived offence against the illiberal political orthodoxy which afflicts most universities at present*. There are signs that genuine liberalism and plurality of opinion are returning to the academy, but this is a slow process.
Although some students engage in showing off and popularity contests, most students get along, knowing that the default setting is that everyone there is clever and studious, and everyone faces pressures. If you say "I can't come out tonight, I have an essay crisis", everyone understands. There is no culture of anti-intellectualism or skiving off, as found at some universities.
If you do go to Oxford, expect to be tired at the end of each term.
* Yes, University of Sussex, I do mean you. And Corpus Christi College, you too.

Take my advice with a pinch of salt, my brother studied History at New College a few years ago, and he did not enjoy his time there, and found his course very challenging. I believe he had similar anxiousness issues, which impacted his ability to enjoy his time there. The main issue was the fact that he did not enjoy the intense nature of the course, coupled with his poor socialising skills, he did not enjoy his time at Oxford. For you, if you found work in yr12 this hard and found it impossible to work at times, Oxford probably would not be the place for you

The small groups are tutorial groups, not lecture groups. The tutorial is Oxford's USP. The Oxford system involves learning by way of pedagogical relationships with your tutors. A good Oxford tutor can change your life. People who enjoy Oxford (and of course not everyone does) often remember their tutors with great affection decades later. The memorial services held by colleges when a long standing Fellow of the college dies tend to be well attended by generations of alumni.
Lectures are attended by as many or as few people have got out of bed that morning. I sometimes think that the university lays on lectures to remind the colleges that the university is still there in between examination weeks.
OP, what steps are you taking to deal with anxiety before you go to university? If you remain as anxious as you have been, you may have a difficult time at any university. Are you in touch with a doctor or counsellor on a regular basis? Do you take any suitable meds? I hope that your anxiety can be reduced.
You may know this already: exercise can assist in managing anxiety and depression. But sometimes you also need a talking cure and/or meds.

OP, I am inclined to suggest that you should apply to Oxford, but should also seek as much help as you can in coping with anxiety and depression.
If you obtain an offer of a place at Oxford and obtain the grades you need, I suggest that you take up the place and review how you feel after your first term or two.
There is no shame in dropping out, or taking a pause (in Oxford parlance, rusticating) if you find the intensity too much.
If you decide not to stay at Oxford, another good university will be glad to have you, or you might decide that university is not for you, or is something to postpone for a few years.
As to that, there is no need to rush to go to university aged eighteen or nineteen. Many people wait a few years and go to university in their twenties or even thirties and beyond. They have a good time.
If at Oxford and thinking of dropping out, please talk to your tutors and to college welfare staff before deciding what to do. Please don't allow family pressure or expectations to make your decision for you.
My daughter is probably as susceptible to the pressures of youth and of Oxford as many of her generation. She is studious and ambitious, but also likes to party. She practises mindfulness and keeps a mindfulness diary. She pursues at a sport which requires a lot of focus, and that also helps her. She tries to plan her days and weeks at Oxford so as to include work, rest, and having fun, but also to be open to spontaneity.
When I was at Oxford I generally had a great time and enjoyed the academic and social intensity. I became very stressed out in the Hilary Term of my final year, between Christmas and Easter. I was paralysed by fear of my finals, and found myself procrastinating. I talked to the college doctor, the old pervy pill pusher, who was not very helpful. I went home almost every weekend in that term (my parents lived about fifty miles north of Oxford), and I took up running to relive stress. I read Michel de Montaigne and Marcus Aurelius (I still read them now). I got better, focused on my work, and blitzed my final exams.
It is also worth mentioning that the stress which you experience as an undergraduate is nothing compared to the stress you can experience if you obtain a responsible and difficult job. I'm a barrister, and the stress of that job can be off the scale. But most things can be coped with.

I’ve been having counselling at my sixth form since November. It’s taken me a while to start feeling better, but I’ve really only begun to get a handle on my anxiety in the past two months, which is a good sign. I guess my concern is that I don’t really know how I’ll be by the time I start university. That’s why I think applying is my best option. If I get an offer, I can decide in January whether or not I’m in a place where it would be sensible to go.
Also, you’re probably right about medication. My counsellor recommended it but I was scared to accept that my anxiety had gotten that bad. Still, if things get worse in Year 13, I can’t ignore it anymore, and I do plan to try medication if it gets to that point.

I’d like to say I’d be able to. For context, my teachers seem to believe I have the work ethic to handle it. But, personally, I’m a very anxious person and can struggle when I large tasks, which makes me think I wouldn’t be able to.
Another issue is that I just don’t know what my mental health will be like by the end Y13. Since starting counselling at the start of Y12 I’ve certainly improved with managing my anxiety. So, by that logic by the time I start uni I’d be able to manage it well enough to manage the essays. But, for all I know that won’t be the case and then I’ll end up really struggling.
I think my best option is to apply and then decide later if I want to take the offer. That way, if my mental health worsens I can reject, and if it improves I don’t have to regret not applying.

I do Oxford law and have a litany of undiagnosed mental health issues lol, it certainly makes it a lot more difficult but it's not impossible. I'm going into my 4th year rn (did a year abroad) and in my first and second year I never got a grade below a 2:1, it wouldn't hurt to apply and if you get through the interview and think that Oxford is still something that appeals to you