Friendly advice required re returning to Uni.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I started a degree 3yrs ago. My first yr was pretty much a disaster due to ill health & my landlord deciding to rewire my home. Although I completed all coursework, I was unable to take the exams.

The uni allowed me to sit the exams the following summer & I fortunatly passed them. I started the 2nd yr Oct 2009, but once again my health got the better of me & my academic tutor suggested I either leave or ask for a concession allowing me to start my 2nd yr again this coming October.

I do suffer from mental health problems & although it was mainly physical illness which affected my 1st yr, it was my mental health which got in the way in the 2nd yr.

I'm considering going back to uni in October but am not sure how best to prepare myself ect. Any advice would be appreciated

dmg24

Do you feel ready to go back? What have you done in the meantime towards managing your condition, so as to prevent a reoccurence?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

dmg24 wrote: »

Do you feel ready to go back? What have you done in the meantime towards managing your condition, so as to prevent a reoccurence?

To be honest, I've suffered with depression and anxiety for over 12 years & although I have relatively good coping mechanisms, it's a problem that never really goes away. I've never felt 100% in all the years I've lived with mental health issues & it has a habit of rearing it's ugly head at any time.

I do visit the doctors when I'm particularly unwell & am on medication (which incidentally isn't helping at the moment), so I do intend seeing the GP this week.

I don't really know whether I feel ready to go back or not; however, I don't think I'd ever be totally sure but I'm tired of my mental health getting in the way of me doing things. It is a major hindrence and I totally resent it.

Indie_Kid

I think I've asked you this before - have you looked into open university? (OU)

Might be easier with your health. (ie, you can work when you can)

the_devil_made_me_do_it

sh1305 wrote: »

I think I've asked you this before - have you looked into open university? (OU)

Might be easier with your health. (ie, you can work when you can)

I don't think OU students can get student finance. I can't afford to go to Uni without financial assistance unfortunatly.

Indie_Kid

The funding is different for OU students; as it's a part time course.

Oldernotwiser

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I don't think OU students can get student finance. I can't afford to go to Uni without financial assistance unfortunatly.

Part time studies are funded by a means tested fee grant. You support yourself by working or claiming benefits.

dmg24

I think OU is the way to go also, unless your uni offers your current course by distance learning? I did most of my undergrad by distance learning, and found it so much less stressful than attending ... not least because I could do most of my work at night!

MrsManda

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I don't really know whether I feel ready to go back or not; however, I don't think I'd ever be totally sure but I'm tired of my mental health getting in the way of me doing things. It is a major hindrence and I totally resent it.

I have some experience in feeling this way though not because of my mental health.
The comment I wanted to make was although you feel that your illness is stopping you doing things you want to do, forcing yourself to do something you are not yet ready to do, in a way, trying to bluff your way through your illness is often not the best thing to do. You need to be relatively sure that you are capable to going back before starting again as its not use to you if you need to drop out again a few months after you start - it's not good for your health and your morale and it may mess up your funding as I don't think you can be given extra years of funding due to extenuating circumstances indefinitely.
The OU may be a good option and as others have said you can apply for funding, you may also be able to transfer your first year credits from your current university. But the most important thing for you to do is get a handle on your health.
In order to prepare yourself for the possibility of going back to university perhaps you should consider the details which cause you to need to drop out of your second year - was it the stress of deadlines, the way you studies, being surrounded by too many people....? Understanding what your main issues have been will help you prepare. What has changed to mean you can meet these challenges now? Can these issues be mitigated in any way? If deadlines were a problem it may be worth doing an OU module to see if you can cope with the deadlines for that module.
If nothing has changed which allows you to meet these challenges then perhaps you are not yet ready. I dropped out of uni after trying three times - didn't register for the third. As much as it pained me I stopped trying and got on with other things. Four years later I was back at uni but only after doing a couple of OU courses to prove to myself I was capable of studying.

MrsManda

MrsManda wrote: »

The comment I wanted to make was although you feel that your illness is stopping you doing things you want to do, forcing yourself to do something you are not yet ready to do, in a way, trying to bluff your way through your illness is often not the best thing to do.

I know, replying to my own post is possibly silly but I thought my post was a bit long and I just thought I'd mention that as much as it pains me I am taking my own advice. I'm in my second year and over the last few weeks I have been feeling strange and after a couple of incidents I went to my doctor who has diagnosed me with partial and absence seizures. I was already taking medication to control grand mals so the advice was to increase my dose. Now my exams are due to end this Friday with three left to do so my thoughts were to take them then increase my meds as I know how weird I can get until I get used to new doses. But after another incident my tutor offered a deferral to July, my husband declared I was scaring him with the increased frequency of incidents and my GP declared I shouldn't be sitting exams so I have taken the decision to defer. I'm not happy with the decision as I wanted to be 'normal' but it is better to sort my health out now rather than risking my health and failing my exams. Though the logic of this does not make me feel any happier

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Part of the problem was the feeling of loneliness. I had joined the 2nd yr of a degree knowing noone & to top it off all the students on the course were very young (straight out of college). I'm in my late 30s, so felt out of place. Also, partly due to my mental health, I find it very difficult to socialise with new people, so ended up spending my days at uni on my own.

Obviously, this issue is going to be there if I go back & I have decided to get myself a car, that way I can at least go home between lectures if I need to. I was also, at times, struggling with getting on the train to uni, so that issue will be reduced by getting my own car.

I had a DSA assesment done when I first started Uni, but found that the department & the lecturers failed to follow the recommendations & I felt it was a battle to get them to follow the recomendations. In my second yr, I had a mentor & although she was a nice person, she wasn't really suited to dealing with a student with mental health problems & so I didn't really get the support I needed from her.