oh poor you. I can imagine what you are going through. I was lucky to have gotten my degree before I became ill. Honey you may have to wait until you are well enough. Lots of people with depression can't even brush their teeth or get out of bed let alone take on college courses. You are not alone.

It took me 8 years to finish my Bachelor's degree. Due to personal issues that caused me to drop out. Depressive episodes that led me to skip class. I was undiagnosed at the time but finally I cracked down and did the work. I went through a long period of being okay and was able to finish. A year later, I had a nervous breakdown. Do you have a doctor helping you? Someone you can talk to? I hope you have a shrink. Deep depression makes it hard to get through anything. I think you should worry about getting better first. Once you are better, you will be able to focus on school. 8 years but I did it. Hope I helped you, even a little bit.

Hi hope20z

I'm so sorry! Please don't be too hard on yourself. You have so much more to bare than the average person in school. Yes, finish school, but don't kill yourself doing it. It doesn't matter how long it takes. Do what you can, without burning yourself out. Learn what your needs are and feed them. There is a balance.

hi, sympathy

xanax is a depressant, methinks...when it's half life kicks in (not very long) it tends to be a bummer. Sounds to me like you may have to deal with xanax addiction (if really taking loads)

college has been hell on earth for me. first two years i went undiagnosed and experienced the worst of my insomnia. i am the queen of dropping classes and wasting money! you need to work with your school's student services department (curse my memory, it may be called something else at your uni) and get on the track to asking for accomodations. my mom always refers to it as a 504 plan. ask your advisor about getting on a 504 plan and immediately talk to our dr. teling them you need their referral. your school can be surprisingly helpful if you are proactive.

im on the 504 plan now and it's been really helpful. this is my 5th year in school and i'm praying to god my last.

i had a similar experience in college, but i wasn't dx'd.

my overall gpa did suffer quite a bit (by my standards)...

and i took a semester completely off...

but i did get through.

so will you.

much love and strength to you (and maybe a med tweak?),

beep.

When I went through college I only was able to take 2-3 classes. I knew if I took more I would be too stressed out and end up dropping classes. Because of my anxiety I had to study extra hard and always be a day a head of my studies. When you fall behind, sometimes it's just too hard to catch back up.

Hang in there. Do what you can to catch up and stay focused on school not the depression. The depression will lie and keep you down. Also, too much xanax can cause problems in itself.

Please listen to what everyone is saying here and take your time. I was hospitalized both in undergrad and in law school. I missed huge chunks of time due to depression and mania. I got good free help from the school counseling center and psychiatrist from the med school. I feel for you, but give yourself some time. I eventually finished and you will too.

Get assistance for yourself from the Office for Student with Disabilities (or whatever the equivalent is in your college). They can help you in many ways. They can help by recruiting someone to take notes for the class for you. They can set it up so that you can take tests in a separate room. There are all sorts of accommodations you can get as a student with a disability. Being bipolar will qualify you. They can tell you what to do to get signed up for the help you need, for me it was just a note from my psychologist with my diagnosis. Someone there will be able to go over the specifics of what exactly they can do to help you. If this doesn't work out for you find out how to take incompletes in your classes. An incomplete is better than failing a class and they will usually allow it.

yep was totally thinking time to kick the xanax. perhaps cut your class load in half.. if you can...

maybe take a temporary disability from your doctor. then you can take a doctor-approved break until you get better and then resume when you're better.

Forgive yourself for not being able to do everything. You'll be able to do things better at some point, maybe not now but at some point when you're on the right meds.

Good luck to you.

Listen to StuckAtHome. That's the way I made it through nursing school. I would never have made it through without the help of the student support services and disabilities. You are entitled to academic accommodations under the ADA. They have to give them to you. It could be extensions on papers, More time to take tests, someone to take notes, lectures on tape, quiet rooms for tests.... the list goes on. Get the help that you need. Don't try to go it on your own.

I have gone to school and gotten accommodations for the disability. I have more time on tests, food and drink in class (even though they had no problem in the first place), cell phone in the class room, and best of all it allows me extended absences from school. I have doctors across the board and more medications than I can handle. Thank for all of your help. It is really scary. I don't know what I want to do in the future. Where do you work while in college? Is there some secret that I am missing here? I am not even on my own I am living with my parents and they are divorced. So it switches every so often. Any suggestions?

what helped me particularlyget through college was making time for exercise ..particularly yoga

does your pdoc know how much you are struggling with depression??

Yeah they rotate yearly and I just say my new one yesterday and she knows how bad it is. Plus they always make me go through the BECK test. I am just tired maybe i should just write something on the journal.