Take your time Dear. You are still very young and have plenty of time to start over. Just take it one day at a time.

Everything will work itself out. Take the time to focus on yourself and heal. Then you'll be able to graduate and go on to graduate school and do amaiNg things. You have so much time. I can relate to you since I was planning to begin medical school in the upcoming year. But things just took a turn for the worse and I had to take the time for myself. It really upset me for a while because I didn't want to
Waste the time, but now I know that this is for the best so that when I do start school again I won't have the depression hanging over me and will be able to do reLly well.

Well, the first tjing to do is to not worry! The second thing is make something nice to sip and just be in the present since if you are worrying about the future...the present is being left behind :)

I think that it is most important for you to take care of yourself at this time and to feel better mentally and emotionally and everything else will work itself out in time. I hope that you will be alright. Be gentle with yourself. You can always go back to school. Just be gentle with yourself. I am so glad you are alive. Life is so precious. (((HUGS)))

I am so sorry and sad that your plans did not work out. There have been so many times in my life in which I felt I reached a dead end, that there was no way out of my current situation. But I am always glad I hung in there, because somehow other opportunities come along. I currently am stressing over my job, and I, too, must remind myself that this, too, shall pass.

Depression is so awful, but perhaps you can use this time to get it better under control through talk therapy and/or meds. And please know you are not alone! Millions of people suffer from depression and many of them don't even know it. You are obviously a highly intelligent person with much to offer, and you are smart enough to know when you're unhappy. I think you'll accomplish wonderful things over time.

Have you spoken to a school counselor? Many universities have wellness centers. It's not uncommon for students to stress out and struggle to complete their goals. Did an event in your life contribute to your depression?

If you see an academic adviser, plus seek help with a counselor for depression, then you will have a better idea of what your future choices will be as far as graduation and graduate school. It may help to alleviate some of the anxiety.

We all have setbacks in life, it is important to address the issues and decide what works for you. If your parents have pushed you into a career choice and that is not what you wanted to do, then have strength to overcome it. Whatever issue has brought you to believe it is easier to die then to live needs to be resolved.

The key is reaching out to what help is available to you to sort it all out. You have it in you to have gotten as far as you have. Believe in yourself and be confident. Everyone trips and falls in life. We have to get back up and move forward.

Good luck to you to succeed at pursuing your dreams. I hope that you find the strength to get back on track soon. Hugs.

The semester I was supposed to graduate, I had a breakdown and failed every single class. It took me 2 semesters to cancel that out and graduate a year late.
Dont beat yourself up. Take care of yourself and move forward one baby step at a time.

Maybe it's the material of your field of study that's causing you so much anxiety? What is it you're studying?

I guess what will help you relax is to think about settling into the nice, cushy job after and start making the big bucks. MONEY is why you're going through all this, right? Obviously you're not doing it for your health!

Also, realize that you'll probably only use a tenth of all this knowledge when you actually start working and making money. I have a Backelor of Arts degree in Communications and most of what I learned in college was theory, rhetoric and fluff that had nothing to do with my career, video production.

Due to my depression and anxiety I had to change my school graduation date too. It feels like the end of the world now, but it's not. There's a reason, and I hope it's so that you have some time for yourself as you continue to recover and finish school. That's the silver lining that applied to my situation. I hope you can make peace with this soon. ((hugs))

Thank you everyone for your responses and advice.

It's slowly starting to settle in. I contacted my program to tell them and find out what the steps were I needed to complete to delay graduation and I contacted graduate school and I am able to defer for a year so that is something.

I've spent the past few days crying and having panic attacks.

I know that everything happens for a reason but it's just a struggle at this point.

So happy things are gonna work out!

That's huge. I know it probably doesn't feel like it right now, but you just received some truly awesome news...the depression won't win!!!!!!

Take the best possible care of yourself that you can...keep all your dreams in mind, because they'll help you find the strength to keep going.

Oh and just so you don't feel too bad, I took 10 years to get my Bachelors :P

Luck to you :)

belledujour: Most colleges can deffer your enrollment to a graduate program. It's not uncommon for students not being able to enroll immediately. Colleges accommodate for that.

I'd think of the upcoming year as time gained, not time wasted. This is a great opportunity for you to finish your undergrad with less pressure, but also a great time to take more care of yourself. It's a great time to deal with whichever depression is coming your way, but also a great time to LEARN how to handle it in the future.

Some of us, me included, could have saved a lot of time handling and dealing with depression had we had learned earlier how to prepare and manage life in spite of it coming back.

Don't worry about your grad school for now. You are still a great student for them; just not this year.

Take care.

Could you take a respite, get back on your feet mentally (get more stable) and then maybe try a paid internship instead? The hands on experience might help you to apply your discipline directly so when you DO have mental hiccups, you will have a firm grasp of what you learned in the internship and you can apply it to your thesis. Right now, though you need to take care of yourself and forgive yourself for what happened.

The first thing you have to do is close your eyes and count back from 10. Collect your thoughts and focus on the new challenge, I'm sorry that things did not work out and it is truly unfortunate. But remember you are not the first who has to restart. Think of all of your options, write them out, you must not feel trapped find new doors instead of closing them all. Anxiety is difficult to over come, but it is possible. Don't let your worries control you, you must control your worries. Wipe your tears and instead of giving up, push forward. Remember you are important and you are loved. You can do this, you are a strong person. Don't let depression consume your mind, breathe and count back from 10.
With my depression and anxiety all I do is count back from 10. Trust me it works, when ever you feel like you can't...that you just had enough remember that someone, many people believe in you.