Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

Shit

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

13:37 / 08.01.04

So anyway, I think I might have mentioned this before- I seem to be suffering from another bout of depressiob, which I think now is a natural seratonin imbalance. And I have two essays for monday at uni. Important essays. I don't have a fucking word written. I've tried, it's just been impossible to get shit done. And now I have to phone up uni and ask that I be given more time and explain why- and I'm fucking terrified beyond my wits. I've left it long enough now, I have to do it right after I hit post- and I'm fucking shit scared about discussing my problems with complete strangers. So I thought I'd post about it to a messageboard full of complete strangers. heh. I'll tell you how it goes.

13:43 / 08.01.04

If it makes you feel any better, Radiator, from my experience teaching undergraduates, depression/other mental health problems are one of the most common reasons for handing work in late. I know it's always horrible having to talk to people about this stuff, especially whilst you're in the throes of it, but your tutors/lecturers should be very used to it by now - I think I read somewhere that something like 40% of undergraduates experience depression during their time at uni. They'll totally understand, and have enough experience to be able to handle the situation (and to know how difficult it is for you to talk about it).

Tryphena Absent

14:00 / 08.01.04

Just on the way you're working quickly- what time are you trying to write? Most of my housemates used to work mid-afternoon but I found it absolutely impossible. I always had to wait until they'd gone to bed or gone out for the evening before I could begin to write at all and I was never able to revise in an area full of students because I'd start to daydream. So maybe you need to reshuffle the way you're doing things despite your depression (which I don't want to play short at all... I didn't even get an extension on my final essays, I handed them in a day late because I was so miserable and totally missed the date and wasn't reprimanded for it because my course secretary looked at me and said 'you look like you've been through hell and back' AND the woman in the library on noticing that I was getting hysterical printed my work out for free. My last week was really, really bad). University staff are lovely, trust in them, they're very kind.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

15:49 / 08.01.04

University staff are lovely, trust in them, they're very kind.

Unless you're studying electronics at Midd-- oops.

Seriously, Radiator, approaching the staff is the hardest part. If your uni is any cop at all, they'll help you. Only a collosal uberfuckwit would fail to appreciate the impact of your emotional state on your ability to perform academically. They'll have seen people going through exactly what you're going through, and they'll have no beef with giving you an extension. They may also be able to fix you up with counselling sessions, which can help you get back on an even keel.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

17:02 / 08.01.04

Fucking papers?

Ooh, my grades!

No offence intended, honestly, but half a packet of Perspective Biscuits should help you out, surely?

Life is incredibly cruel, savage and unforgiving. Be like life.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

17:09 / 08.01.04

Er, sorry.

Immediately attracted to the thread cos I'm feeling a tad under pressure myself, with what I consider to be considerably more at stake, but then I would wouldn't I?

Nothing quite as important as your own little world eh?

Good luck, anyway. Apologies for the hypocrisy.

09:13 / 09.01.04

>I don't have a fucking word written. I've tried, it's just been >impossible

Something I used to find helped when I was having problems writing essays was to get someone else to write the first sentence - just to start it off, because then there's at least a bit of it written.

Maybe ask other people what kind of thing they're writing, if you've got no idea what to write? Discuss it with people, even people who don't know anything about the subject, just so that some ideas might occur to you. Even if you get an extension, you'll still probably have to write the essay sometime, so the sooner you can actually approach it without panicking, or thinking that you can't possibly write it, the better. I know depression makes it really really hard though.
Good luck with it.

If you can manage to see a doctor or a counsellor, the university might be more lenient with their extensions. Notes from psychiatrists can work wonders.

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

09:41 / 09.01.04

Cheers, folks. I spoke to someone yesterday and I have to speak to someone today, so the grammar-wrecking anxiety's gone, pretty much. I had the same faff on when I had to explain all this shite to the postgrad who takes my sociology seminar, but she was incredibly cool about it all and pointed me in the right direction. It'll all be a bit last minuite as I'm going to have to file all the stuff in on handing in day, but I reckon I'll be OK. I already have a note from the doctor sorted our. Hope it goes well, Money $hot. No hard feelings.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

10:59 / 09.01.04

Cool and the gang :-)

11:40 / 09.01.04

Radiator, I am glad you got it sorted out. Handing things late is not usually a problem. My sister, who finds it very hard to write papers, handed her MA dissertation in late and unfinished, and has just heard that she got a distinction, so...

(I personally am simultaneously very happy, very envious, and slightly disgusted by this)

14:07 / 09.01.04

Tough gig Radiator. No one likes being depressed, there's just no motivation to DO ANYTHING, let alone help yourself. Money $hots post is kind of funny really as that reaction is what most depressed people think about themselves, "it's just my problem" or "it's not important" or "yeah but in the whole cosmic scheme of things..."

Unfortunately my (first ever) post is actually in reply to Kit-Cat Club.

I must confess that after working my arse off for the last year of my degree (*cough* *cough*) - well mostly - and making sure I got all my papers in on time etc etc, the fact that she got a distinction from a late and incomplete paper sticks in my throat a bit.

What I mean is that it's not exactly fair on the other students who didn't have emotional problems to not deduct at least some marks for late or incomplete work.

I'll explain where I'm coming from and see if you agree .. On my course you needed 85% or more to get a distinction which was ONLY possible if you aced your exams and didn't lose silly marks for coursework like the automatic -15% for late work, 0% for incomplete work, -10% for poor spelling or grammar, and the final insult of -10% for an incomplete bibliography (suppose I shouldn't have para-quoted a phrase from my lecturers own book and then not given him credit!)

But what I really fear is the inevitable abuse of the system ... if students discover that by feigning depression they can hand work in late, incomplete, and having had help from the professors get a distinction (i'm not saying that your sister had any help). Won't that place an unneccesary burden on the teaching staff while simultaneously devaluing the work of the more dedicated and focussed students?

Or am I just being thoughtless and uncaring?

14:58 / 09.01.04

As a university teacher I can't help being a little alarmed that you think it's a form of cheating to get "help from the professors": what do they (we) normally do? Hinder?

The Apple-Picker

16:26 / 09.01.04

So, Admiraladz, what is your solution? Systems can be abused. What system can't be? People commit insurance fraud all the time, but that doesn't mean companies should deny claims on an assumption that the claimant may be someone committing fraud.

What I mean is that it's not exactly fair on the other students who didn't have emotional problems to not deduct at least some marks for late or incomplete work.

Emotional problems can be debilitating. People who are already burdened by emotional problems should not be further punished for their disability.

16:49 / 09.01.04

gah, radiator, no sensible advice I'm afraid. I hope it goes well for you, not just with the essays but the depression as well. glad that people seem to be doing alright in helping you along, too!

01:17 / 11.01.04

I'm not totally sure if this is going to be much help, but what this friend of mine from college used to do, when faced with your particular dilemna, was wait around by the office the day essays were due, then distract the secretary, or whoever it was, and then grab the first thing lying around in the relevant In Tray, copy it ( although, pretty clearly, re-wording it slightly, ) and then hand them both back a few hours later, no one the wiser, and he pulled this shit off for a couple of years. And this was at, you know, " a bloody good university. " And now he's got a lovely wife, two kids, his own business, and all that bullshit, he's never been happier, and while I'm not suggesting you go that far, all I'm saying is, if in doubt, just copy off a friend, because it's just not fucking worth it really, your integrity or whatever, if it's making you feel this bad. Oh yeah, and you should go out, once you've done that, and celebrate.

Tryphena Absent

02:27 / 11.01.04

Yes but why did your friend bother to go to university?

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

12:31 / 11.01.04

Feeling a lot better now I'm back to halls. Still shitting bricks about the 'morrow, mind.