- Date posted
- 1y ago
Getting through school with OCD
Has anyone felt very anxious from OCD and still successfully gotten through school? If so do you have any tips? (I’m an engineering major in college)
Has anyone felt very anxious from OCD and still successfully gotten through school? If so do you have any tips? (I’m an engineering major in college)
it’s all about learning about yourself and who you are and about finding a career / school/ major that best suits you’re needs and wants especially as a person with OCD. Also all schools should have a Disabled Student Services and OCD is under that. They do differently accommodations to help with that. Also you’re school work !! this can be an upside i like to look at with ocd is i am very organized use that power and channel it into something that is good something that is positive. I organize everything when it come to my school stuff! As well as note taking! Look and find different note taking app or tools and try to find the once that best fits your needs and classes. maybe take a care and life exploration class at your college ! School hasn’t always been easy for me mentally but oh boy did i graduate with 4.2 Gpa! i’m currently getting my masters in psych ;)
@Boosboots Well I’m a third year in civil engineering and I’ve had internships already. I have it figured out and I like it. It’s just recently somehow going through a negative thought cycle which I guess is OCD and it’s made me anxious and not focus in class. Then I worry if I’ll not be able to do well on tests and I have two tests coming up this week I’m not ready for yet bc I wasted time being anxious. I also don’t want people to notice that I have an issue. But that’s great you graduated with a 4.2 gpa, congrats!
Hi!! I am in a similar position. Definitely a battle, and I find my symptoms get worse during high stress periods like exams. It is distressing but I’ve found that as much as you’re able to, leaning into school can actually reduce symptoms: obviously it reduces stress to accomplish tasks, but also, it gives your mind something else to focus on. That said, it’s not always possible, and it is incredibly important that you’re kind to yourself during these times. If you need to drop a class, or take an extra semester, that is 100% okay. People do it all the time for all kinds of reasons, including physical and mental health issues, but also just stress buildup! STEM degrees are incredibly demanding, and there is truly 0 shame in needing to take breaks or lighter semesters. I find it helpful that many of my neuroscience professors talk about their ‘failures’ — poor grades, semesters they took off, not getting into graduate schools. Having a hardship like a mental illness does not mean you won’t succeed.
@madeleck It is good to stay busy and focus on school. In the past I had to drop classes because I lost confidence from being depressed and anxious. I’m taking a lot of credits now but my classes aren’t as tough as before except a couple of them. I don’t really wanna take longer but I guess if I have to I will. Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. Because I feel like this will ruin my life and it will never end. I got an internship with a company I really wanted and I hope by the time I start I’ll feel myself again. What’s your major?
@Anonymous I study neuroscience, so different for sure but still very demanding. I get that completely — sometimes it feels like if I can’t succeed in school there’s no way I’ll succeed in a job. This isn’t true! School, especially STEM I find, had an odd and incredibly demanding structure and little immediate reward — the feeling of getting an A lasts about 5 minutes before you have to start worrying about the next assignment. Jobs have financial motivation, much much much more teamwork and communication, and you already know what has to be done a lot of the time — applying skills instead of acquiring them. Honestly, of all the successful people I know, very few of them were straight-A students. Things happen. University is a complicated time of life. I am taking 4 courses/semester and taking an extra semester because I found I was ALWAYS overwhelmed with 5, and my mental health is more important than a timeline I made for myself in high school. Take time to decompress after the semester and I’m absolutely sure you’ll feel up to the internship by the summer. PM me anytime if you want to talk more!
@madeleck Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. How do I DM you? Im so tired of noticing these sensations and it’s shifted from breathing to noticing my heart and I barely slept last night because of it. I have a test tomorrow and idk what to do with this. I wanna get rid of it.
Having a really rough night tonight. Currently I'm having a lot of contamination obsessions and compulsions with using the bathroom and when I use it I usually end up spending at least an hour and a half including all the cleaning rituals and showering afterwards and I just started seeing a new therapist to help with this. Tonight it unfortunately hit me in the middle of the night at like starting at 1 am and finishing close to 3 am. This ended up making both my mom and dad really angry with me and this is not a new situation. For context, my dad doesn't believe in mental illnesses at all and my mother is better and much more understanding, but still doesn't believe it's real to an extent. With my mom being more supportive than my dad, it leads to arguments between them a lot especially ever since they brought me home (I recently graduated college and my OCD got to the point where I was unable to have a job or function normally in taking care of myself by living alone). My mom tends to lash out at me when she gets stressed about these arguments with my dad over me because she can't talk back to him and that in turn usually causes me to spiral and get worse and so the cycle continues. This recent time my dad started yelling at me from downstairs because I was flushing the toilet too much for his liking and my mom said some hurtful things to me. I understand that it's not easy living with me especially right now and I can see why they're upset but I really am trying to get better but I can't just get better overnight and automatically be able to control all my compulsions, especially with the severity they're at right now. I'm not really sure how to navigate my family situation like this with a lack of a support network or someone in my family who believes that what I'm going through with OCD is real and it's not just me choosing to do these things. Has anyone else experienced a similar home situation and have any tips on getting through it?
I am wanting to go to therapy to hopefully lower my OCD symptoms but I am terrified to tell anyone else, like a therapist, about my intrusive thoughts. Has anyone else had this experience and if so how did you get over it?
Hi, this is my first post. I am very nervous reaching out as I haven’t ever done so before publicly. I found out a year ago I had ocd and since then it’s been very clear that I have had it for a long time. I currently struggle with health ocd, death ocd, and I’m sure others as well, I always am scared I have or will develop an illness or schizophrenia. One thing I’m struggling with is depersonalization/derealization. I am under a lot of stress being in nursing school right now so maybe when I’m don’t with school I will feel better. Also I recently switched my medication to sertraline. I have been on it about a month and 1/2 but just increased my dose. It is worse when I first wake up. I am going to go see a therapist again once my PCP gets back to me with one that specializes in ocd. If anyone has had similar situations or recommendations to help me get back to feeling better that would be so greatly appreciated. I am also embarrassed to say I’m scared of getting schizophrenia. The obsessed with that began a year ago when I was taking psychology class. I became so afraid of getting it that I am constantly looking for signs or symptoms. It drives me bonkers. I would like to overcome that fear all together. Please give me advice. Thanks.
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