MovieChat Forums > Prozac Nation (2003) Discussion > How do you cope with studies while depre...

How do you cope with studies while depressed?

posted 18 years ago by obscure_note
22 replies | jump to latest

I'm 20 years old, and when I was 13 to 17 or so, I suffered depression. I wasn't diagnosed though, because I never went to the doctors about it, but it was clear that I had it from all the symptoms: feeling of hopelessness, crying jags, feeling angry, fatigue, etc.

I'm wondering how did someone like Wurtzel managed to cope with her studies, at Harvard no less? (and there's the whole getting into Harvard in the first place, which is undeniably a big feat)

Depression is severely debilitating - you can't seem to function, and most sucky of all is that when depressed, you feel life is dark and there's no hope for you, so why bother exerting effort e.g in studies for example.

If I remember correctly, in the movie Wurtzel was portrayed at botching up relationships esp. with her best friend, and confined to her room, and had to deal with alcoholism, etc etc, but it didn't show that the depression affected her studies - so my guess is it didn't.

What about you guys who have suffered depression or having it now? How did that affect your studies, and if you did well, or are doing well at it, how do you do it? Depression is severely debilitating, and it messes up the way we function.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] BunnyXCore 15 years ago

well, she wasnt just depressed she was bi polar, and in her manic periods she would have all this excess nervous energy and like me I'm bi polar myself and when I was in my manic phases, I would do my homework, alot of times going above and beyond what was needed because I had all this energy and I needed an outlet to expel it, and they can become obsessed with this. Alot of bi polar people are very creative during these times. It's very much like being on speed, remember when she was up nights writing that spingsteen article?
Oh, yeah and she also did cocaine, so that was also making act like that.
--
Jill: Libby, these foreign exchange students are sitting at our table
Libby: Well deport them

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] the_turtles_of_rhoyne 14 years ago

It can be really terrible. I feel like I've just wasted my time in school. I've been "depressed" for maybe eight and I'm 21 now, but at least I was "smart/gifted" in high school. Now I feel so little ambition, or one that ebbs and flows. I only started taking anti-depressants almost a year ago and they help only a little. I feel like all the energy is sucked out of me and I'm tired all the time. I go to a really small top LAC, but shame and guilt prevent me from talking to my professors about it. I just don't know if they will understand or if they would think my excuses/explanations are acceptable.

It's really difficult to get work done and it's jarring both physically and mentally. My energy is low (I have some iron and Vit D deficiency that I'm treating as well, go figure) and my concentration is so bad. I have to read things multiple times, and none of it seems to go in. I'm so jealous of all the kids around me that get more done than what's due the next day and finish it spectacularly when I feel like I'm struggling to stay afloat. The past month has been a nightmare! I was on Spring break this week, so I got to rest a little, but the deadlines are coming by.

I took a year off school and I think most of my professors know that (I left mid semester of my junior year). But I was at home with my family, and I always had to take care of someone so I never focused on my own recovery. When I came back, I was a little more hopeful but this semester just sucks. I just "broke up" with my therapist (from my school health center) because she was terrible.

Things that might help: Get your depression documented by the school health center and inform teachers/professors what's going on with you if you can.

See if you can take a lighter load. Go to a counselor, but don't settle because you have a history. If it's not working out, get rid of them. My therapist took it way too personally. But she/he is not your friend, and your payments/tuition money is going into /your/ recovery, not their feelings.

[–] bethgrop2010 13 years ago

Yes same as me.. Even when i dont do anything all day i feel exhaused..And i have no energy at all, and some days which usually happen b4 i pms but even happens when im not i break down and cry for no reason and i feel sooo useless and gross and like nobody cares about me (I have really low self esteem).. Once a few months ago i was laying in bed bc i couldnt sleep and i started crying. I didnt know why bc nothing happened to me that day.. or anything but i kept crying and holding my hair like i wanted to pull it out and do something rly bad to myself.. When i was in hs i did and i got into some really bad things.. and everytime something would happen i would feel a huge hole was in me and like i couldnt get thro it.. Some nights or days are worse then the others but i never feel good enough no matter what i do and i always say to myself like i want to be normal. Thats a part of the reason i actually like this movie bc in some ways i can relate a lot..but it was really horrible and i hated myself for it bc nothing super bad has happened to me.. at least not as bad as others.. So when i had moved in with my dad my sr year i did go to counseling but it didnt really help much. and i had told my dad one day when i had a break down and crying that i was depressed and i need help. But he said i wasnt and i just needed to focus on other things but it never worked..So i mostly wrote about it in my journals and sometimes that would help but only for a few hours.. I never went to a doctor tho bc i'm afraid to tell them and wouldnt know what to say...Yes i feel those same things, lol thats why i replyed to your message except i was never really gifted in school. i mostly kept to myself and read or wrote in my journals.

"Maybe a hug will cork her cry hole"- Homer Simpson

[–] Serious_Vanity 14 years ago

With my depression (Started when I was 15) I totally BLEW my freshman year of high school. I wasn't a straight A student, but B's and A's and was accepted into honors english and failed my first class. Every other year was pretty much fine until college and I dropped out twice because I couldn't handle it.

I was too confused and too focused on my self destruction to handle school. With the way I felt I can't IMAGINE making it through school like Wurtzel did, but everyons experience with depression is different. Even though my depression is a million times better now, I don't think I could even handle college now...

"I bet she gives great helmet."

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] milinara 14 years ago

People just seem to have different outlets. Some people relieve their stress and ignore their problems by studying. They say studying helped them get away from the world and ignore their numbness for a while.