my depression and anxiety are eating away at my life and no one is taking it seriously

[solarsunshine]

Hello all, I am currently a 20-year-old college student, and my depression and anxiety (severe social anxiety) are compounding each other. I feel paralyzed by severe executive dysfunction and then my anxiety makes me panic about reaching out. It doesn't help that nobody around me takes me seriously. For context, my depression manifests itself in ways that my family attribute to laziness. I find it hard to commit to my coursework, my hygiene is awful, and my room is a mess. My depression makes it so that I don't care about what goes on around me instead of what they think it's like living with anxiety and depression like how it's romanticized in the movies. I have tried to tell my family that I wanted to take a semester off school because I wanted to start therapy and meeting with a psychiatrist regularly to help me get my mind back, but they told me that it wasn't that serious. Now, I'm failing this semester and feel as though I've ruined my life. My anxiety has gotten so bad over this past semester that it's now reaching the paranoia category and I've begun to isolate myself. I don't know what to do anymore. Does anyone have any advice on how to fix this?

[bananabreadhellyeah]

Hey solarsunshine , I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. I am also a 20 year old college student and have faced similar issues. I'm sorry that your family isn't taking it seriously, but it definitely IS that serious. If you think you should prioritize therapy, you absolutely should! I do not know your situation but if you are 20, school should be your decision. Staying in school and not being able to keep up with coursework seems kind of counterproductive and, to me, it doesn't sound like a bad idea to take a break and focus on your mental health. Things can't get better if you don't prioritize your health. You have definitely not ruined your life, you can always pick school back up when your mental health has improved. Do not be worried about other people's timelines..we are young and have time to complete school and become who we want to be.

If I were you, I would look into different therapy options and find a provider that specializes in depression. Reaching out to a therapist is a great first step to getting better. Have you found anyone in your area? Definitely check into what insurance they accept, what kind of issues they specialize in, and what a session would look like (a lot are utilizing tele-therapy right now, but if that's not your thing I have found some near me that are open for in-person sessions!) All/most of this information should be available online for whatever facility the provider goes through.

Do you have a primary care physician/regular doctor that you have a good relationship with? If so, have you talked to them about medication options (if you're not already on them)? There are some helpful medications for the issues you are dealing with! What works for everyone is different, I have tried a few different medications and finally found one that helps me manage my symptoms pretty well. If you are already on an anti-depressant, it definitely seems like you need to try a different one! Medication also might not be something you're interested in and that's cool too, but I've found it helpful to combine medication and therapy.

That being said, it seems like we've experienced a lot of the same things and if you ever wanna talk, don't hesitate to reach out!

I hope this helps!

[hypercat54]

Do you have a school counsellor you can speak to?