Disabled Student's Allowance -- worth applying for mental health?

snowqueen555

A lot of people have depression and anxiety including myself, I took medication all throughout uni and presentations scared the hell out of me

I didnt ask for anything more, I don't know why getting a laptop would help, I did have counselling at the uni though, it was free for students and was probably more help than getting a laptop or a dictophone.

bodmil

This isn't directed at anyone in particular as I see a number of people with similar issues have posted, but :mad:

What exam stressed and debt ridden student isn't a bit depressed and anxious these days? Does a laptop cheer you up and cure you?

And if you're claiming help from uni, what then, will you claim help from your future employer? Have all the free counselling and health care you can get, that's what's going to help you. Not extended deadlines, and technology, that's just helping you live with your problem, not solve it. You've still got to deal with the real world at the end of the day.

Indie_Kid

bodmil wrote: »

This isn't directed at anyone in particular as I see a number of people with similar issues have posted, but :mad:

What exam stressed and debt ridden student isn't a bit depressed and anxious these days? Does a laptop cheer you up and cure you?

And if you're claiming help from uni, what then, will you claim help from your future employer? Have all the free counselling and health care you can get, that's what's going to help you. Not extended deadlines, and technology, that's just helping you live with your problem, not solve it. You've still got to deal with the real world at the end of the day.

You want my equipment? You can have my depression and all the crap that comes with it. I am lucky at the moment if I can get through one week where I haven't run away or hurt myself.

There is a difference between "feeling depressed due to exams" and constantly feeling so depressed that simple tasks such as getting up in the morning are difficult.

Laptops might be given to students (mine was given for my physical issues) because, due to their depression, they can't go into the library. They may also use software to help them - older computers & laptops (such as the one I have at home) can't run the software because there isn't enough memory.

Please stop being so judgemental. I have just been diagnosed with depression - it's not a nice illness at all.

With DSA, it's not just a case of "I have depression. Please can I have a laptop?" Anything the assessor recommends must be justified.

melancholly

bodmil wrote: »

This isn't directed at anyone in particular as I see a number of people with similar issues have posted, but :mad:

What exam stressed and debt ridden student isn't a bit depressed and anxious these days? Does a laptop cheer you up and cure you?

And if you're claiming help from uni, what then, will you claim help from your future employer? Have all the free counselling and health care you can get, that's what's going to help you. Not extended deadlines, and technology, that's just helping you live with your problem, not solve it. You've still got to deal with the real world at the end of the day.

although there is an element of truth to the sentiment behind your statement (in that the world isn't always a nice place and support is tougher to get after you leave full time education), the way you have made it is really really rude and unecessary . it also shows that you have no concept of the difference between feeling 'a bit down' and clinical depression.

rosalie-lavender

bodmil wrote: »

This isn't directed at anyone in particular as I see a number of people with similar issues have posted, but :mad:

What exam stressed and debt ridden student isn't a bit depressed and anxious these days? Does a laptop cheer you up and cure you?

And if you're claiming help from uni, what then, will you claim help from your future employer? Have all the free counselling and health care you can get, that's what's going to help you. Not extended deadlines, and technology, that's just helping you live with your problem, not solve it. You've still got to deal with the real world at the end of the day.

Having sat with my son in a doctors surgery while he told the doctor what method he had been thinking of using to kill himself I can assure you that any help that is offered is welcome. As far as after uni is concerned my son will cross that bridge when he comes to it. I am just glad that with the help of his doctor and the support he has had from the university that he is still alive today. The university have encouraged and supported him and that has helped his confidence and his health to improve.

He doesn't need the technology but other people for one reason or another do and what is wrong with helping someone live with their problems. There are some mental illnesses that are incurable and some people have no option but to "live" with them all through their lives.

Isis_Black

bodmil wrote: »

This isn't directed at anyone in particular as I see a number of people with similar issues have posted, but :mad:

What exam stressed and debt ridden student isn't a bit depressed and anxious these days? Does a laptop cheer you up and cure you?

And if you're claiming help from uni, what then, will you claim help from your future employer? Have all the free counselling and health care you can get, that's what's going to help you. Not extended deadlines, and technology, that's just helping you live with your problem, not solve it. You've still got to deal with the real world at the end of the day.

ok i will ignore the rude way you posted that,

but i will say as others have there is a big difference to being down and stressed due to exams and depression!
Personally, though i dont have to explain my problems i feel through your thoughts i must do, i was diagnosed finally with depression nearly 2 years ago after spending a very long of not being well there is no easy way of explining my exact feeelings. Depression isnt someting you can put in words really i felt at tmies what was the point in life and i got so close but i felt i couldnt becuase of my kids so i finally got the help becasue of them.
The reson i have been offered a laptop is because my is so old it would not cope with the planning programme they are giving me and i need one to do work on incase i have days where i jsut physcially cannot get into uni because i just have no physcial strength to get there.
Oh lovely non of that makes sense lol but i will say depression isnt something you can jsut put into words as it is so different for each other.
Just consider before you say anything the fact that not everyone is the same and just becuase you are fine doenst mean everyone else is, also we may be doing uni to try to help improve our lives the best we can and alot of us could go into jobs that dont demand the 9 -5 they can be flexible.

elfen

I have BPD/social anxiety problems/other undiagnosed stuff and applied for and got DSA. It does help with getting more support (I can't use the library, so part of my award was a printer and book allowance so I can buy non-essential books and print my work off at home) and I also get extra time and a separate room in exams - which I do struggle with, as if I'm stressed I can have panic attacks, bu that's also into the plan, I'm allowed time if I have a panic attack to calm down and re-enter the room. It also helps with my lecturers being aware (my English lecturer and course leader is an absolute STAR and possibly the best lecturer I have ever met) and they know that I may leave the room or uni for some time if I feel I cannot cope.

When I had my assessment, we talked over what kit would help me be able to cope at around the same level as someone without a disability - it did include a laptop, dictaphone and some software that I do use all the time - I need to move my lectures off the dictaphone and listen to them to help with revision, but it is a godsend knowing I can work in quiet spaces and not be surrounded by people and stress.

foreveranon

And some of us -- I'm one of them -- have already been in the world of work for several years and know firstly a few coping methods for that environment, and secondly what kind of working environment is less likely to result in meltdowns.

I tried university as a teen. Couldn't cope, and didn't have the knowledge then to say that falling apart was due to mental health problems and I needed help. I'm older now, and I STILL wince when I have to accept I'm having an abnormal reaction by freaking out over something, but I now at least recognise it and can face it down.

It doesn't have to be laptops and fancy equipment. Something as simple as regular meetings with a lecturer to check progress can help me realise that actually, the reason everyone else seems to be less exhausted than me is not because I'm crap and not doing well but because I'm trying to do more than them. Which, in turn, can stop me giving up and dropping out for no reason other than that fear. But the awesome thing about anxiety is that, wait for it, it makes you anxious, which makes it hard to approach lecturers because in my head they do what you just did, stare at me and go "Everyone's anxious at college. Suck it up." and walk away. This can help that (and pay the wages of someone who can check me when that fear breaks out.)

(And yes, that kind of help can still be available in a workplace with a decent HR department. Thank God.)

bodmil

elfen wrote: »

move my lectures off the dictaphone and listen to them to help with revision, but it is a godsend knowing I can work in quiet spaces and not be surrounded by people and stress.

I bet it is, I would have loved it. Will you tell your future employer you didn't complete your degree under the same circumstances as everyone else? I kinda think it ought to be stated on your degree certificate in a way. A 2.1.1 or something! A degree is so much more than just what you learn but the more the process. If your degree requires library work then by virtue of the fact that you graduate, you should be able to use a library.

PS I had depression also.

Indie_Kid

bodmil wrote: »

I bet it is, I would have loved it. Will you tell your future employer you didn't complete your degree under the same circumstances as everyone else?

Why should we? They'll probably work it out anyway. (well, for those of us who need things in alternative formats)

It's called reasonable adjustments. By being the equipment, no-one is at a disadvantage to non-disabled students.

You lot do need to stop being do judgemental. I (and I'm sure many others) would rather have no disabilities, not receive DSA and be able to complete their degree like everyone else has done.