So this is my second year at a pretty big university. I commuted my first year and it was hard because I don’t actually live that close to my school, about an hour to and from, so it was inconvenient (hard to study as much as I needed to) but I think a lot of what drove my unhappiness was my mental health, so I’m absolutely responsible for my performance, which was bad. I’ve had pretty serious anxiety and depression for years, I haven’t treated it the way I should have and I’m working on that now. But it was a huge issue in high school and it became an even bigger one when I started college.I moved on campus this year and 2 days in, which granted doesn’t mean much, I’m doing my assignments, reading, hw, etc on time and some of it early, but I feel worse than I ever have save for a severe depressive episode a few years back. I genuinely have not been able to cope, like I can’t stop crying and I’m too afraid to talk to friends, among other things I won’t get into. I know this is a long start but I want to explain the severity of my situation right now.
I want to go to med school. The way I am right now, I know I can’t make it there. I might not even be able to get through the year. If I took a year off, is that indicative of a bad work ethic or that I don’t have what it takes? I fully intend to come back when I’m doing better but would it be detrimental to reaching my goals if I took time off to fully focus on getting better? I guess my concern is that I don’t want to spend a year doing basically nothing but I need a lot of therapy. So much that I’m thinking it needs to be my primary focus.
Tldr, am very depressed right now and will try to get better but if I need to take a year off will it harm my goals?
No, it is not detrimental to take a year off. In fact, if your mental health is suffering to the degree that it might impact your grades, it would be a good choice. As long as you are productive during your year off, seeking treatment, and “improving” yourself, there should be no issue. You might want to stop into your campus counseling center, and see if someone there can help you work through your options - not just in terms of school, but in terms of finding appropriate treatment.
How do you feel about trying some therapy on campus before making the decision? I say this NOT because I think taking a year off will be detrimental, but just because it is an option to consider. You have 2 more hours each day now without that commute, and being a residential student is a very different experience than a commuter student. Would you be open to exploring that? Every campus has mental health resources and if this sounds like something that could work, get started ASAP…like today…that way if it doesn’t help, you could hopefully still withdraw in time to save some of the tuition. Just an idea. Take care of yourself first…meaning your health comes before your career aspirations. Good luck and please reach out to someone whether on campus or at home…perhaps your therapist at home or your parents or some other trusted adult could help talk over the plan with you.
Right this second, go to or make an appointment with Campus Counseling Center.
they may refer you to a psychologist for evaluation.
Then talk to your Dean of Students about what you could possibly do.
It might make sense to get your mental health under control before you continue your college.