Tomorrow I am going to try to finalize a medical leave from school... :(

[1125]

Since I have been out of school from the extreme panic attacks/OCD/hypochondria/MDD for a month, I am now going to have to finalize a medical leave tomorrow. It really sucks because I was an honor student on deans list, but I have at least 11 more days in my outpatient program and they could possibly add more to that. I know I will go back in the fall, but now I need to focus on getting better because both my anxiety and depression are very severe at the moment.
It has been recommended to me from several people to do this, because I am way too behind and they dont want me to relapse(nor do I) from the stress of catching up with a month's worth of stuff.
Have anyone else had to do this?

[jeremyfresno]

I have been on a medical leave since late February from work and I actually have my doctors appointment on Tuesday and I can either extend it or go bak to work and I think I'm going to extend cause I want to be 100% until I go back..I also took this spring semester off....my doctor told me taking time off would be a good idea to just take a break and relax from all the stress and let my body recover....so I took her her advice and took time off work and school

[ladywillow]

I haven't taken time off school, but this is the second time off work. You need to do whatever you have to do to feel good and confident when you go back. If that means taking some time off, then take it :) It's hard to recover from this and adding the stress of school when you don't need to is going to prolong recovery. Hope this helps!

[laurandisorder]

I just dropped my Masters courses for this semester.

I am working full time and have had 4.5 days off due to this relapse this year, I just had to prioritise, minimize stress and put some stuff on the back burner.

You'll be better for it.

[PanicCured]

There is nothing wrong with having to take a semester off of college in hard times, or times of severe stress, but you guys have to remember, that for anxiety disorder, it is absolutely crucial that you force yourself to be in situations and do things that cause your anxiety. Withdrawing into your safe place or comfort zone, is not helpful. That is part of the problem. This need for a safe place and safe people. I was where you guys were. It was a struggle to leave my home. I couldn't even finish shopping for food before I'd have to leave the shopping cart with my items in it and run out of the store.

I don't live in that world anymore. I take crowded subways, go to huge rock concerts, go to bars, sometimes even by myself, I go and drive wherever I want whenever I want. A lot of this has to do with pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

I know it seems so real and dreadfully scary, but anxiety/panic disorder is bullshit! It's the biggest bluff you will ever come across. You just keep getting tricked by your mind to believe you are dying, and every single time you come out ok. Your nerves and brain chemistry may be out of whack, and you need to allow your body to heal, and actually be proactive in your healing, but you have no choice but to keep pushing yourselves to live normal lives little by little consistently. It won't happen overnight, but you have to do the best you can and not withdraw into a corner. The more you go face to face with anxious situations and face them head on and over come them, the more new neural pathways in your brain will be created, overwriting the anxious ones.