Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
I'm currently living in the Bay area in California where our air quality has become "very unhealthy" due to the Camp Fire wildfire that has been waging destruction in the region. While surrounding colleges cancelled classes for the entire week before the air quality index was moderately bad, my college waited until the very last minute, on the day where conditions were the worst to finally cancel class. The dorm I live in was built in the 50s-60s and has not been renovated, so an entire floor of 20 rooms and 35-45 students are only given two air vents. The rate at which air is recirculated and filtered is slow, if at all. To make matters worse, smoke has been wafting in and we cannot find where its coming from. My floor mates and I are having trouble breathing, and we're experiencing various symptoms from the smoke. I cannot get a hold of my anxiety as I am fearing for not only my health and safety, but my roommate and my floor mates as well. I'm cycling between catastrophic thinking, and I can't focus on finishing assignments that are due at midnight. My professor has a strict no-late paper policy, but I am worrying about whether I should just take the 25% grade hit for missing this assignment in lieu of leaving town and staying with relatives for better air quality. If I do that, I definitely won't have time to finish my assignment. I've already explained to my professor what is going on, but I have little hope that he'll take pity on me because he is a fair grader and our class is 300-big, and he doesn't want to give other students advantagers over others.
I know that I shouldn't be complaining too much because things could be worse, and at the very least I have a roof over my head and some barriers protecting me from the full extent of the smoke. But my chest is tightening up, my head hurts, there's pressure in my ears, I'm finding it hard to sleep, and I'm worrying about health implications in the future. I just recovered from a month-long cold with a really bad cough, and now I'm being hit with this.
I'd appreciate any and all help to better manage my anxiety so I can at least tackle my assignments. Thanks for listening. And wherever you are, please be safe out there.
My daughter's in high school and all of her assignments, in all of her classes can be submitted by email or various methods online. Same with my son in college.
Perhaps you could talk to your professor about it?
My assignments are submitted online, but I have been having trouble focusing and getting work done. After frantically figuring out ways to stop the smoke from coming in, I had an anxiety attack. I couldn't sleep for hours, trying to calm myself down. I'm emotionally and physically drained today, and the paper is due in a little more than 6 hours. I've talked to my professor, but he will not budge without me showing proof of extreme circumstances, like being hospitalized. I can't help but process that as a personal attack, although I know his intentions are to be fair to other students too who may have not spoken up about their struggles and are willing to accept a lower grade.
I'm really struggling trying to get myself together. I've been blessed to have wonderful friends who have been checking up on me and bringing me food, and that is helping me cope a little more. But after today's response from my professor, I just don't care anymore about this class, although it will hurt my GPA very badly by not at least sending something in.
You and everyone out there are in my thoughts.
ih8PTC: unfortunately, all the stores nearby have sold out of air purifiers, and Amazon will not have any in stock until a week later. I am looking into getting one ASAP though. I definitely feel physical symptoms manifesting. I did email my professor about an extension, but he had rejected the idea stating that if I could prove an emergency, then I could get an extension. He also stated that it wouldn't be fair to the students who turned in their papers early, and that it wouldn't be fair to give a student an advantage over others who could be going through the same thing, yet didn't speak up. I understand his approach to fairness, but it was hard not to take it personally. It really knocked my will to the ground, and I just couldn't gather the energy and concentration to churn out a paper, especially after recovering from an anxiety attack. I hope that you and your family are safe and wish you well!
jaynib, thank you for your prayers and for keeping me in your thoughts, it really means a lot. The masks are not a substitute for being outside and the best thing to do in these conditions is to stay indoors with air recirculating. Unfortunately, my building doesn't really have that capability, so we're just trying our best to keep the outside air out, while my side of building heats up during the day from the sun. I have journeyed out to my cousin's. The air quality here is a little worse than my area, but at the very least, her home is new and has a great AC system. I wish you well this holiday season too!
Thanks again for your well wishes and the time you're taking to respond to me!