Taking A Semester Off Of University?

[anemone]

Hello everyone. I'm a university student and I've honestly been getting worse and worse in my studies. I feel so out of place and grounded most of the time, and I'm already failing a class...

And I desperately want therapy, but I have no money for a therapist and my insurance for some reason doesn't cover me because I'm not in my hometown (I'm on my dad's insurance). And apparently my dad got a new HMO so I should be covered, but every time I ask him if it's activated he says it'll activate next week, then next week comes along and I ask again and yadda yadda yadda it continues weekly.

I just feel like I'm crumbling. And I haven't gotten any sort of decent therapy since the main trauma occurred 2 years ago. I think it's starting to affect my studies too much. The depersonalization/derealization is getting so intense, I don't even feel like I'm here half the time. And none of the free councilors my Uni provides can really help. They're so backlogged they only see people once every 2 weeks for 45 minutes. And the counselor I WAS seeing literally told me to find a specialist.

So I guess what I'm asking is...would taking a semester off of Uni and using that time to go to therapy(because f*cking hopefully by next semester I'll finally have working insurance) be a worthwhile investment? Or should I just kinda try to suck it up? Because...I know school isn't really the problem. I like my classes and stuff, I like my major. I just...can't do it anymore. But that makes me sound lazy I guess. Idk...it's hard because I feel like my PTSD is turning me into a ghost and sucking out any sort of passion I had for art, games, anything. I just want help...can anyone relate or give advice?

 

[joeylittle]

Does your university have a good disability/accessibility department?

I would recommend you talk with them about your options in terms of taking a semester of medical leave. Have them explain to you how it works, what the benefits/issues are with it, just talk it through. The advisors there should keep things confidential, and it's their job to help.

Personally, I have never known things to improve from where you are at without taking some kind of break. You're not being lazy - you are dealing with a chronic illness. School is a stressful environment, even when it's good stress. You deserve to be present for your education, and in order to give that to yourself (I'd say) you deserve to let yourself get some treatment, now - so you can return to school feeling better.

 

[Friday]

I would personally suggest not taking the semester off, but drastically reducing your course load & composition, instead, as a first line of action. Even if it's just a 1 credit gym class, or auditing an art class, or similar.

For a few reasons. Probably most importantly?

- Routines. Especially with disassociation & de realization, it's very easy to start losing major time, and have self care take a nose dive, if you remove all structure and distraction from your life.

- Next off is stress. Having your life change from being in school, to out of school? Will equal mad stress. Even more going back the quarter after, if you only take off one quarter. It's just like bam! bam! bam! In school/ out of school/ in school is a whole lot of change to adjust to.

- Which leads to the next piece; most universities are more than fine with students taking 1 quarter off, no questions asked. Most do that in the summer. But it can be any quarter, without risking your academic standing, or havin to reapply to the school. If you take next semester off, instead of reducing your course load? You've used up your one no-questions-asked chance. Which means the following quarter, if you want to take it off, you'll have to submit a lot of paperwork, in a timely manner, and can still be denied. Both stress and problems that can be avoided by going lite one quarter. Because you've still got your freebie to use if you need to the quarter after.

- While I certainly hope you have therapy arranged by next quarter? I would be leery of counting on it. Finding a therapist can take time, unless you just get lucky. Many people spend several months trying to find one (lots of interviews, initial appointments, etc.). So I would both be worried about taking time off from school to do therapy, before you've actually found a therapist to work with... Aaaaaand before you have a treatment plan in place with them. It's really common to spend several months just working on stabilization (which includes things like working or being in school, routines, etc.), or on coping tools / mechanisms (for very good reason), before starting trauma therapy. So taking time off from school before you need to would seem to be jumping the gun / putting a whole lot of pressure on yourself, (first to find a therapist, then to blast through the foundation building part of therapy) when there doesn't need to be.

- Lastly is another pragmatic reason; PTSD comes with a lot of accommodations possible through colleges / student with disabilities / the ADA. It's infinitely easier to get those accommodations going... When you're still a registered student attending classes.

^^^^
Just my experience & observation. I don't think there's a right/wrong answer in whether to take time off, or not // it very much depends on each individual. Taking time off May be the best thing for you. Or it may send you into a tailspin. Or reducing, then taking time off, or just reducing and not taking time off might be the best thing. What's best is going to be different for everyone.

 

[joeylittle]

@Friday is wise. I think the bottom line, @anemone, is that you should take the next step of speaking with someone at the university who can explain to you how the policies work in your particular situation.

I just found out recently that in my school, taking a quarter off is not a big deal; fairly straightforward, and they don't care if you do it once per year. but a medical leave is a mandatory 2 quarters off, and a formal re-evaluation before being allowed back to school. But, medical leave preserves your financial aid package. Trade-offs for everything.

And most schools do like to make this stuff kind of complicated, but that's what advisors are for.

 

[Swemoor]

Hey, I took a year away from University, I keep going to some classes because teachers let me, everyone is really understanding.

It has pros and cons, of course, but I decided taking a year away because right now I am in the middle of my career and I feel like I can't give my everything, so I am working with my recovery and I am also still doing stuff related to my career.

It's relaxing, tho, past week Inwas feeling really bad for leaving, so you have to think it very well.

But for me it was the right choice, good luck :)

 

[Chem Lady]

I got PTSD while in the midst of my first degree. I never took a semester off because I'd lose my student status and then, when I would start up again I'd have to meet the new and changed requirements for my degree which would mean I'd have to take more courses. So, I took the minimum course load to keep my student status. There are some great courses out there that can count towards your degree but are really easy. I took an online librarian course which required barely any work, stuff like that. However, getting some good therapy is huge. It's really important to find a way to make that work.
Why doesn't your dad realize how important getting therapy is? Is he trying to sabotage your health? I think that part of the story is the most bothersome to me.

 

[anemone]

Thank you so much to everyone who replied. :) after reading about it more and asking lots of people, and reading the comments here, I decided to not drop next semester. Instead I'm gonna be taking 12 units worth of fun art classes to help me relax :)

Thanks guys! :) I really needed to hear all your answers...it helped cleared my mind. :) thanks you!

 

[LanaD]

I so wish I had taken a semester off back in college when I was going through some horrible times!!! My university didn't see depression as a health issue though, so I didn't/couldn't. I didn't do very well in my classes and went through hell emotionally.