- #1
Muckraker
- 2
- 2
Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this. This involves a somewhat long and uninteresting backstory, so I won’t trouble you with the finer details, and will begin by saying I am a going on nineteen year old who has been struggling with mental health issues most of my teenage life.
Said mental health issues went undiagnosed for a long time until it eventually reached a peak and I was hospitalized my senior year of high school. After that I was diagnosed with panic attacks and severe social anxiety and depression. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to graduate high school, but luckily my parents and the faculty at my high school were very supportive and I was able to graduate in the top ten of my class, got accepted into the school I wanted to go to with a quality physics program, and by the time last autumn rolled around I thought I was ready to go away to school.
Boy was I wrong.
I’m not sure if it was the shock of having too much independence, being in a new environment, or the difference in academic rigor between high school and college but my mental health went downhill from there. After many counseling sessions and long discussions with my parents, I decided it would be in my best interest to come back home and take classes at my local community college.
For a little while my mental health seemed to improve, but right now it seems to have taken another turn for the worse. Things have de-escalated to what I could almost call an even worse point than when I was away at school, and now I am seriously contemplating dropping out of school entirely.
That brings me to the reason why I am here. I’m wondering if perhaps I should take this as a cue that maybe I’m not cut out to pursue physics? I mean if just getting general education credits out of the way is unbearable for me, how on Earth am I going to handle advanced quantum mechanics and differential equations?
My hope is that taking time off of school will allow me to spend time working on my mental health (while pursuing a full time job and possibly an internship) and that I can eventually go back to school better prepared to face the rigors of academia once it has improved (if it does at all).I’m also wondering what advice, if any, anyone could offer me if they’ve been in my position or have known someone in a position similar to me or just feels they could provide some helpful insight.Thank you again to anyone who took the time to read all that, and for any potential advice you could offer.
Said mental health issues went undiagnosed for a long time until it eventually reached a peak and I was hospitalized my senior year of high school. After that I was diagnosed with panic attacks and severe social anxiety and depression. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to graduate high school, but luckily my parents and the faculty at my high school were very supportive and I was able to graduate in the top ten of my class, got accepted into the school I wanted to go to with a quality physics program, and by the time last autumn rolled around I thought I was ready to go away to school.
Boy was I wrong.
I’m not sure if it was the shock of having too much independence, being in a new environment, or the difference in academic rigor between high school and college but my mental health went downhill from there. After many counseling sessions and long discussions with my parents, I decided it would be in my best interest to come back home and take classes at my local community college.
For a little while my mental health seemed to improve, but right now it seems to have taken another turn for the worse. Things have de-escalated to what I could almost call an even worse point than when I was away at school, and now I am seriously contemplating dropping out of school entirely.
That brings me to the reason why I am here. I’m wondering if perhaps I should take this as a cue that maybe I’m not cut out to pursue physics? I mean if just getting general education credits out of the way is unbearable for me, how on Earth am I going to handle advanced quantum mechanics and differential equations?
My hope is that taking time off of school will allow me to spend time working on my mental health (while pursuing a full time job and possibly an internship) and that I can eventually go back to school better prepared to face the rigors of academia once it has improved (if it does at all).I’m also wondering what advice, if any, anyone could offer me if they’ve been in my position or have known someone in a position similar to me or just feels they could provide some helpful insight.Thank you again to anyone who took the time to read all that, and for any potential advice you could offer.