Any way to live in a single/without a roommate?

Student Lounge College Life
1

So I have been dealing with social anxiety and depression for most of my life. I meet with a psychiatrist, but I still have to deal with a lot of the symptoms in my day to day life. In high school, I found it easier to cope with because at the end of the day, I could go to my room and just relax and de-stress even if I had a particularly bad day. Living with a roommate has made this impossible. I like my roommate - she’s really nice and friendly and we get along fine - but I just feel incredibly stressed all the time. It’s hard to explain but I just feel exhausted and drained all the time; I’ll get more and more and more stressed until I snap and have a breakdown/panic attack, and nothing I do helps me calm down. I just feel on edge constantly being around people.

I’ve been sleeping on the floor in the gender neutral bathroom in my dorm when I get too overwhelmed, but it feels so embarrassing that I can’t even handle having a roommate like literally everyone else. I know this is a personal problem I need to deal with, and I’m talking to my pyschiatrist (and I’ve made an appointment to talk to a counselor at the college health center), but right now it’s affecting my grades and mental health and I don’t know what to do. My college lets people apply for housing accommodations (like living in a single room) if they have documentation from a doctor/psychiatrist, but I feel like this is such a trivial problem and that I’d just be taking away space from people with real issues/disabilities.

What should I do? How did you guys deal with not having any alone time in college?

2

Bingo. You’ve been driven to occasionally sleeping on the floor in the bathroom – this IS a “real issue.”

3

Not trivial, you realize your need, do what you have to do to make it happen.

4

Go talk to housing at your school and see what steps you need to take in order to get a single. I’ve known people get singles for much, much more trivial reasons.

5

It’s not silly if it’s affecting you like this. Get a note from your doctor.

6

Don’t minimize how you feel. Definitely get the note from your doctor and request the single. Give yourself the best tools for success. If this means a single then do this for yourself.

7 
  You can afford the difference? Is there an actual problem getting a single? Not all schools have a shortage.
8

thanks - this helped me realize how silly I was being. scheduled an appointment with the counseling center to talk about housing accommodations and hopefully work things out!

9

I agree. Get a single room. College is stressful and the stress only amplifies existing anxiety. Trust me, it’s not going to get any easier! Sometimes with anxiety, you just need a good safe place to decompress.