Managing Mental Illness as a College Student

Being a college student is sometimes so draining. Class after class, exam after exam, and essay after essay: it never seems to stop! Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars you start collecting as debt to the educational loaning systems before you’re thirty years old. Greek life options, student athletics, and internships are sometimes upon you as soon as that admissions letter arrives. However if you are struck with the unfortunate luck of being in college while recovering from mental illness, in laymen’s terms, it sucks. The following steps are to ensure you are able to keep your grades, social life, and state of mind on top for higher chances of success despite your mental illness.

First of all, let’s define mental illness. For some reason, social media and theatrical outlets depict mentally ill people as violent, crazy, and unstable people, which isn’t necessarily true. Most recently the Institute of Medicine reported in 2006 that the correlation between violent crimes and mental illness is significantly small. With that being said, it is not always easy to recognize when perhaps your roommate or that person in class is having symptoms that correspond with a clinical diagnosis. You cannot escape the statistics of it, ladies and gentlemen, but one in every four American adults suffer from mental illness. Some of the most common mental illnesses include mood disorders, autism, attention-deficit, and anxiety disorders. Personally, I suffer from major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. On my worst days, I find it difficult to shower or get out of bed, to complete assignments or even attend classes, or to maintain close interpersonal relationships. My depression makes me believe everything is hopeless and that I am not a good person, and the PTSD makes me hyper vigilant and distrustful of other humans. However, I was able to keep my high school GPA at a whomping 3.93 until the day I graduated and I have high hopes for the duration of my undergrad experience here at Monmouth University. So I hope you enjoy my tips for succeeding in school while recovering: remember the fastest way to stop the stigma is to speak up.

The first step toward recovery in college is to take everything one day at a time. You will not be able to complete all your college assignments in one sitting like you may have been able to in high school. As soon as each project or paper is assigned, start brainstorming immediately. Give yourself plenty of time to focus on academics before the due dates, and if nothing is due tomorrow but you are having a bad night, call your therapist and talk through your emotions. Homework can always wait, your mental health is important.

Second step: accept the fact that not everyone you meet is going to like you. Sometimes roommates are better off as just someone you sleep in the same dorm room with instead of as close friends. Just because you were assigned to a particular living arrangement does not entitle you to have a close relationship with your roomie. Often, if there is initial tension that does not dilapidate within the first few weeks of the semester, it is safe to assume an ideal friendship is not about to develop. And that is perfectly okay. Not everyone you run into or come across is going to like you and it is your job to not take it personally. However, it is immorally ethical to disrespect someone due to personal conflicts. If you are having conflicts with your suitemates, contact your residential life staff to work on a plan to help alleviate tension.

Third step: stop feeling shame when asking for help. I have no idea who started the connection between asking for help and that being characteristic of weakness, but it is absolutely not true. Your mental health symptoms are valid and if you need help, you should not be shamed, pitied, or gossiped about because of it. Almost every college has a psychological and counseling program right on campus, so if you are embracing your college career already knowing you will need support, it is advisable to contact your school’s psych department prior to the move-in date. At least make arrangements to meet with some of the counselors because usually the services are free of charge to university students; which as you may already know, mental health treatment can be quite expensive if you look for off campus private practices. (Side note: during the winter of my sophomore year, I was struggling with suicidal ideation and when I called the crisis hotline to seek help, instead of being shamed or ostracized, my school and residential life were surprisingly proud that I had gotten strong enough to realize when I need help and to be courageous enough to ask for it.) Also most colleges have a Disability Department where disabled students are offered academic accommodations, so it would be advantageous to check your school’s out!

Fourth step: don’t sweat the small stuff. I hate to admit it, but there will be at least one class that you don’t get such hot grades in. In my Social Psychology course freshmen year, I did exceptionally well on the group work and on the assigned homework, but for some reason, the exams always tripped me up. Getting a bad grade (or perhaps a series of bad grades) is honestly not going to impact your overall college transcript too much, assuming your grades do not result in you failing the course. There are always tutors available on campus and you can consult your professors during their office hours to discuss better studying techniques or ask questions related to the information. So if it’s your first exam and you don’t score above a 70, try not to fret too hard. Most professors give their students ample time to make up assignments or boost their grades in other ways, or maybe you can ask about extra credit assignments. [Note: even if you find yourself failing, there are ways to withdraw from the course and to withdraw looks significantly better than to fail in the eyes of graduate admissions counselors.]

Fifth step: understand that the transition into college is difficult for most students, even for whom do not suffer from mental illness. If you are struggling to find your right friend group, be sure to check out the extracurricular activities or clubs your college offers and how often they meet. I was able to meet a lot of my friends not through my classes, but rather through my community service outside of the classroom (aka through mutual interests). Most freshmen experience some sort of home-sickness at least in the beginning of starting their first semester. There are some students who experience no sense of home-sickness and who actively enjoy every day of college. There is no shame in fitting in either of these categories. If you are struggling financially, I recommend sitting with a financial aid counselor or with your assigned advisor to discuss payment options or on campus employment opportunities. But like I said, all students succumb to feeling the financial burden and the social stress accompanied with higher education.

Sixth step: recovery requires you to put your health first. Just because it is expected for freshmen to get drunk at every party, if you happen to be on psychotropic medication, it is literally medically-unadvisable to drink alcohol. Recovery in college means not participating in ‘all-nighters’ knowing it would disrupt your sleep schedule and influence your mood later in the week. Recovery means setting aside academic assignments apart from therapeutic goals, and designating time to focus on each. Recovery means being honest with yourself above all else: if you find yourself slipping into unhealthy habits or you are struggling to complete the most mundane tasks, perhaps it would be beneficial to at least seek an evaluation.

College is supposed to be a time of change, new friendships, continued learning, and adventures. If you are mentally ill and are pursuing your degree, I am immensely proud of you and have faith that you can accomplish any goal you set your heart to. If I can do it, I’m sure you can too. Humans can overcome terrific challenges if we collaborate with supportive people who can help us up if (and when) we fall.

Resources

• Suicide Prevention Hotline in America: 1-800-273-8255
• National Eating Disorder Association: 800-931-2237
• Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network: 800-656-4673
• Youth Crisis Hotline: [phone]
• Planned Parenthood National Hotline: [phone]
• Self-Harm Hotline: [phone]
• Alcohol and Drugs Helpline: 1-800-821-4357
• DV Resource Hotline/Referrals for Shelters: 1-800-799-7233
• HealthfulChat.org

Reviews

[Inject Positivity]

This is a spectacular helpful write, many people are going through this stage of life I'm immensely proud of you that you are reaching out to others to encourage them through the example of your own life, you didn't tell them what to do directly but showed them that you did overcome the challenges by using the mentioned steps...

The way you used a detailed description of what is a mental illness and also the medical studies examples it helps the reader to trust you more... By giving your own life experiences it makes the writing more powerful and helpful... I have faced a stage of depression in my life and I can tell you if in that time I read your writing I would have believed in you...

Please keep on writing these helpful writings, people need human beings like you...

Sincerely
Dhiman