Posted by sid on April 14, 2002, at 17:57:30
In reply to Re: Effexor and memory ... any advice? » sid, posted by doug12 on April 14, 2002, at 1:03:28
> Does anyone know if it is common for academic performance to suffer on antidepressants? Long term, I'm not sure if I'm ready to make that trade.
What I know for sure is that academic performance suffers from depression and anxiety. And health/welfare too. I now opt for welfare and health first, then we'll see. I may have to change career altogether. I've come to realize that I have an illness which may limit what I can and can't do in life. Depression is not something you heal from and never think about later on; it's a long-term management thing. I hope it won't come to my having to change career plans, but it might, and if so, I won't hide away from it. I'll have to deal with it and make appropriate changes in my life. I've put my academic success and career first for way too long. Now my health and happiness come first. If that's incompatible with the career I tried to build, so be it. I give myself a few more years to figure it all out.
I wish I'd taken time out from grad school to deal with my depression better. If I may give you some advice: don't under-estimate this disease. Make it your first priority, the rest will come together later. I wish I'd had the guts to tell my advisor: look, I'm sick, I need a year off to make sure I heal. If you let me, I'll be back next year to continue what I started here. But I didn't, and the disease made me feel like I was supposed to do it all, as if I was not sick. I'm still paying the price though, since I was left with residual symptoms for long, and I still had dysthymia. Well.... All I want to say here is that it's a serious disease and that your school work is secondary to your long term health. You may not see it that way (I didn't), and you may pay for that later (I do).
I hope you find a way to heal and continue your work - if not at the same time, one after the other.
- sid
poster:sid
thread:102963
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/103063.html