Mental Toughness

Post Reply New Topic

Some things just don't cause me stress like the average person. It could be a near miss on the highway, walking along the edge of a 30ft drop, or simply doing what causes most people too much stress. However some things do get to me. Specifically social environments with college being at the top of the list. The anxiety from being in a classroom or testing center is so great for me that I have panic attacks that verge on black out, with symptoms that include loss of feeling in arms and legs blurred vision and total loss of all thinking ability. As a result, I am going on my fourth year of college studies and barely have enough credits for one year. Mostly because the prolonged anxiety causes depression that forces me to drop classes for months on end. Well, I am seriously fed up with this garbage and thought it would just go away with time but it hasn't. I am going on meds but want to know what exercises I could do to take control of this anxiety and learn to deal with it like I have all other types of anxiety.

Strattera enabled me to handle such stress with more aplomb than before.

(editing for clarity...)

In high school I had similar bouts of anxiety brought on by intense pressure over grades and weather or not I was truly capable of staying in advanced courses. That's what I get for having parents from an Ivy League college. Everyone said my perfectionism overran my true abilities and fully expected me to do just fine regardless of my workload or their specificity in grading it. They also asked me on a daily basis to maintain their technology. I had a few courses in which I excelled, some I absorbed entirely and some that utterly destroyed all my other grades. What worked for me? Focusing all my efforts on the courses I actually learned something from, disregarding the rest and ultimately getting my GED. A hiatus isn't always a bad idea, before I accrued reasons enough to bootstrap myself away from my oppressive school, I was working as an uncompensated member of its' IT staff, at which point I realized I'd rather spend solely my OWN time getting myself into college or employment. My duties at that school verged on those of one of the vice principals! There were times when I might have blacked out from all the same stimuli when I just got in my car and drove away until my skin stopped crawling, sometimes there's nothing else for it. I recommend explaining to your councilor just what's going on, almost in these very terms, because anyone can do more in terms of academics when they're healthy and rested enough for it. Nothing is too drastic, in my opinion, if it truly helps you get more work done. Decompress as much as you need to, but remember to do so preferentially over your usual off-time routines.

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

I am going to tell the disability service but I don't think it is totally grade related. For example, before I went to take my chemistry finale last semester I was told by my teacher that I could get an F and still get an A for the course. Despite this I still panicked on the test and was totally useless for the first hour. After about an hour of terror you get so drained that you simply don't care where you are or what happens next. Once I get to that point I am fine and can finish a two hour test in one hour. What I need is a way to get to that point sooner.

I started doing a lot better in school when I made a habit of switching from coffee to tea on a daily basis. Your brain consumes more calories than you might think, and any number of dietary changes can throw a wrench into the nutrients crossing the blood brain barrier. This is why coffee with cream gives you jitters faster. Eat well & often, it's hard to tell from the perspective of sitting in plastic chairs all day, I know, but really it's the fastest way.

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos