Talking to my tutor - its so hard

booklover

Hello everyone

I feel really unsupported. I am currently on my final social work placement and then hopefully qualify as a social worker.

At present I am experiencing a lot stress and i also suffer from depression. My tutor knows this but hasn't been at all supportive.

Now she has emailed me and wants me phone her- I am dreading this what do i say??

She will want to know what I have decided- to complete my course and maybe fail, or defer for a year..

I am so worried about ringing her it fills me with dread.

Any advice please

Fiona xx

The_One_Who

Is there any way you could see her face-to-face? That might be easier for you. Would probably be easier to explain your situation.

There is nothing wrong with taking a year out if that's what you need to get your head together a bit. I was considering it at one point but then chickened out and now I'm paying the price.

farso

I think that your looking at a tutor the wrong way, they are totally on your side, thats why its called a tutor, they have to help you through whatever is going on in your world, work, home, any sort of problem is theirs too.

Call them up, or go see them, and be totally honest, say youd like more help from them, the reason they might be seeming unsupportive so far is that they dont like to interefere too much without being explicitly asked.

If you are still unsatisfied by the result, its always worth trying the head of tutors to try get some more support or a different tutor.

Oldernotwiser

It's a bit odd to complain that your tutor isn't being supportive and then be worried when she makes contact with you; you can't really have it both ways!

(It's not my business, but if you can't cope with stress, a career as a Social Worker is going to be really difficult.)

farso

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

It's a bit odd to complain that your tutor isn't being supportive and then be worried when she makes contact with you; you can't really have it both ways!

(It's not my business, but if you can't cope with stress, a career as a Social Worker is going to be really difficult.)

I must agree actually, going into the NHS is going to be very sressful an no-one to support you while your out there, having said that though, you will have had the relevent training when you get to that stage, so could be a lot easier.

Hanniebis

There's no reason why you can't be a great social worker once you've taken the time out to get well again. Remember that although depression isn't usually visable to other people, it IS an illness, and if you're suffering, you need to take the time to get healthy again.

Like another poster mentioned, if you don't stop and you soldier on, you will probably regret it in the future. I was extremely depressed as side effect of post-viral fatigue after catching glandular fever in my final year of Uni, but made the tough decision to leave my studies. It was very difficult at the time but in retrospect the best decision I've ever made.

Think about YOU, not what your tutor thinks of you. Believe me - they are very different things! Your tutor will understand. If they sound stressed about it, it will only be because they are worried about you getting the best of all the effort you've put in so far. And if they don't understand, then you were better off without them anyway!

There's always time to finish your course later, or even do something different if you leave. But when you're depressed, you need to sort it out now; if you just leave it, it will very probably get worse. I know exactly how you feel. Telling my personal tutor that I was leaving the course due to depression and anxiety was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. But I promise you that it will be worth it. Let us know how you get on and please don't be afraid to ask people for help, okay? xoxo