Bipolar Support Group

Hello again everyone!

It just occurred to me to bring this up, I was hoping to add this somewhere without starting a new discussion, but I couldn't seem to find one. Perhaps I am not very good at navigating this site yet.

Anyway, I have always had a problem with doing my homework. I get very nervous when I work on things like math and it takes me anywhere from 2 - a million hours to get even the simplest problems done.

When I was younger I did not think anything of it. But I remember two specific times where I just freaked out. Once I was sitting in my living trying to do my math homework and I got so frustrated I just burst into tears. SOBBING!! SOBBING!! And another time, I simply froze. I sat there for probably an hour or 2 not moving at all. Just there with my books in my lap, I felt like I had no idea what to do, and it scared me.

I always thought this was normal, since it was all I was used to, I just worked harder and I would finish eventually. I assumed it took everyone 8 hours to do their homework.

It wasn't until college that I realized it wasn't normal. I would hear other people saying they finished there homework in an hour, 30 minutes or whatever, when it took me 5 hours to complete the same homework problems.

Last night I was doing my homework(a subject that I am fairly familiar with already), and I spent 2 and half hours going through 2 and a half pages of text, including 5 sample problems that were on the page. Despite having a step by step guide to solve the problems I just...I got so tense and nervous as if I didn't understand the problem or didn't know what I was supposed to do even though I did know.

I'm very confused about what to do about this. I have a tough curriculum without having to spend 5 times longer on things than everyone else.

Does anyone else have problems like this? Should I stop every 20 minutes and meditate or? idk!

I also get very nervous when I am trying to work on something and the person next to me is working on the same thing.

I don't know if this is anxiety or what because when I take exams I am perfectly fine! I might be one of the last to finish but I don't sit there like a mook wanting to cry I just go where my pencil/pen takes me and I, assuming I have studied, usually fair pretty well!

Again! Any suggestions anything at all, do my homework while standing on my head, do my homework in the restroom. I am willing to try anything!

Thank you!

oh no! that's terrible to go through that.

i have a hard time concentrating to do homework.. and i definitely struggle with math. can you get a tutor through school? or can you meet with the instructor during office hours to get extra help? sometimes having the extra help will make it easier.

you could always talk to your pdoc and see if there's a med you can go on for anxiety (i take clonazepam) or maybe something to help with concentration?

you're lucky to be able and remain calm during exams! that's when i get the most anxious. but i just get overwhelmed with homework.

I am just starting to get set up with another pdoc after I got dropped from last one.

I have a very difficult time getting the courage to even see my professors! At first I am very friendly and like to chat with my professors about anything, but when I start having trouble when I even think about going to seek help from them I panic. Last month I sought help from one of my professors and I had a hard time listening because I was too focused on trying not to cry! I got very sweaty and nervous!

I am currently not on medication for anything. I have not been medicated in a very long time. Probably since 2005.

I am going to write down everything I need to discuss with the doctor before I go because a lot of time, unless I am hypomanic or manic I close myself of and don't look up when I talk.

Thank you very much! I have considered paying for tutors because I feel they are less likely to judge, but I do not know where I can find one! LOl and my schedule is pretty bad. But I will ask and see if there any tutors. A lot of time I do not need help, I do understand what we are doing, but for some reason I just get very nervous and I feel confused even when I am not confused.

Oh dear. that's not fun

i'd definitely talk to your doc & see if they can put you on something to help with those symptoms. Maybe just adding an anxiety med will help slow & calm things down.

I write things down before I see the doc too, otherwise i'll forget!

I can definitely empathize - I have dealt with a combination of anxiety / poor concentration that has been similarly crippling. Mine often led to suicidal thoughts as the last stage of a process of anxious withdrawal from work. The larger the assignment, the worse it would be...

I don't have all the answers (does anyone?) but I can offer these suggestions:

- if your campus has a health/wellness center, it is definitely a place worth going to for multiple reasons. they probably have study skills resources for anxiety and procrastination, which are a very widespread problem, even if other people don't get it as bad as we might. bipolar may present the problem, but learning to master the trigger as much as you can via good study habits will get you a long way in dealing with this. Don't expect perfection! but, I imagine that if you are receptive to any guidance counseling or tip sheets (so so many tip sheets are out there, you must sift through the information to find what works for you) that you receive, you will be able to work out a method that at lease decreases the current amounts of anxiety and time-sink that you have.

- the health center may also have information on accommodations your school may be able to offer people with documented medical conditions (we do fall under that category). Depending on your circumstance, this could lead to additional test time, easier dialogues with your professors, financial assistance for meds, or even free counseling (all of these at your discretion, of course). definitely find this place and explore your options!

- in my experience, you should not be afraid to open up to your professors. i do go to a small school, so if you have 300 person lecture classes take this with a grain of salt. lately, bipolar disorder has been both more prevalent in college students and much more truthfully perceived in general. I am sure that many, if not most, college professors have had previous encounters with students suffering from our types of problems, and if they haven't I'm sure they know of colleagues who have. They'll never understand why you have these difficulties or be able to help you if you don't tell them - so tell them! You have a real issue, not another case of unmotivated party disease. Besides all of the above: they truly are there to help you learn, in whatever way that requires. The courage is hard to muster, but every time I have done so I have been pleasantly (and gratefully) surprised by the understanding responses my professors gave me.

- as previously mentioned: get hooked up with a pdoc as soon as you can, and please please consider medication! for bipolar of course, as it is the best prevention, but also for anxiety. is a common co-diagnosis, and therefore co-prescription.

- finally, if you can, consider lightening your courseload: not necessarily permanently, but until you get everything straightened out and into a more stable place. semesters only get harder as they go on, both from semester 1 to semester 8 and from the start of term until the end of term, and it is sneakily easy to get caught between a rock and a very hard place. For us, that is a very bad thing. If you drop (or audit! auditing is great!) a course you can come back and get later, or that isn't a requirement, it could save you a lot of worry in the short term and health in the long term.

umbertomingus:

Thank you so much for taking the time to type all this!

1. I will go sand seek these study tips and what have you. I think I know where to find said place.

2. I did go through student disability on campus. They provide letters for the student to supple the professor and describe appropriate provisions for the teachers. However, I did not go through these channels this semester. Last summer I handed one of these letters to my Cal 2 professor, he said something to the affect off, "I don't need to read this, and you don't need me to read this. I know you can do this, and if you need anything I will help you." AT the time, I took this very differently( as he has a very strong accent, and I was really nervous ), but after I realized what he said it kind of gave me a push I needed, and I did very well in the class. I took on the I can do this without help attitude and after those letters not helping me out much last semester I didn't bother going to get them. Also, it is required we have, I guess you could call it, professional back up of at least 6 months current. I do not have that at the moment so I do think I am eligible until I get through my appointments and what not on the 11th.

The only thing the school provides as far as medications being paid for are lists. I have gone through a few and have had bad luck! This new one I am trying is pretty much my last hope at the moment. I hear it works pretty well, luckily I did not have to wait as long as I was told I would probably have to! And I do see a counselor at school. However, she is retiring this month and I only have one more session with her before I have to start getting to know a new counselor. I chose a male, for some reason...Mainly because I have worked with 3 of the females there and I only liked one, and as I mentioned, she is soon retiring.

3. I very much plan on getting on medications. And I plan to stay on them! On the right ones, that is. Since, I do not know how they are going to affect me, I think you are right. I will have to let my professors know! Last summer, they tried me on, I can't remember the name, but I was told to take it before bed. That was an understatement. I pretty much needed to take it while I was in bed because it put me out immediately!!! And by morning I was fucked! I could barely walk from the parking lot to the library(about a 5 minute walk) without thinking about stopping somewhere for a nap! I missed many classes! And would fall asleep on benches and in the library from around 9am to 1 or 2 pm! The sad thing is that the medication was pretty helpful! My mood was pretty good, I felt really good! But that was only after the affects would ware off, and they wouldn't completely until about 6pm!

4. I have lightened my course-load! I am taking 4 classes(I have to for fear of not receiving the funds I need to be able to pay for school.) and I have been retaking classes I had to drop/failed the last couple of semesters! Yes, I did withdraw from school all together last Spring so I could start getting back on track, but I haven't quite gotten there!

Everything you said has been very helpful, and again I appreciate you taking the time to share!

umbertomingus already gave great and very grounded advice. The only thing I'll add is that you might get something out of Russ Felderman's "Bipolar You Blog" at Psychology Today. As the director of counseling and psychological services at the U of Virginia, his specialty is working with young adults in a college setting. It's relevant to what you're going through. Check out his entry Bipolar Disorder and Your Use of Academic Parachutes: Accepting Your Need for Help and Ensuring You Land Safely.

Here's the link:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/bipolar-you

I'm in school too and have had similar problems with anxiety affecting my schoolwork. I just started trying different things for it and some have actually been helping me. Taking a lot of little breaks to tell myself that everything is going to be OK, I can do it, etc., while breathing. If it's really bad I'll take 5 minutes to lay down (w/no sounds) and breathe. Or I'll take a longer break in the middle of my homework and do something active to take my mind off of school and release the nervous energy. I'm hoping that eventually I'll have to do these less and less and I'll just stay calm throughout.

These won't really help you spend less time on homework, but maybe with the stress/panic anyway Good luck!!

My daughter is 13, and she's having a horrible time with homework. We're trying to get her into a homebound program. She's already missed so much and is so far behind that there is little chance she could get caught up. I have sat with her while she's tried to do her homework and even with me there, it took her an hour to do 2 algebra 1 problems. But then, she had an up day where she decided to do her math without telling me. What she told me later was that she would do a set number of math problems, then go online for 5 minutes and look for websites she'd like to check out and bookmark it for when she got done. This way she wasn't as anxious about the homework, & it actually took her less time. Just a thought.

I am in School for the first time in 13 years and I have trouble with Math too. I have a great teacher that will work through problems you encountered on the assignments at the begining of class. If I get stuck I will just skip over it and either ask a classmate or my professor how to do it. It takes me forever to do homework too. I hope things get easier. Good luck!