As midterms are approaching, I am hoping that you are not pulling all-nighters and forgetting to eat and relax. While achieving high grades is a proud accomplishment, it should not be done at the risk of your health.
When I first started college, I studied around the clock. An education was something I've always valued and wanted; I didn't really care for partying or football games. Because I was always wanted to learn something though, I didn't know how to relax.
Mid-terms and finals proved to be very trying for me, as I was juggling a full load. When I had taken five classes in my second semester, my problems from my personal life started to affect me even more. My roommate had moved out and I was homesick, so I was very isolated.
This isolation, along with my infatuation with learning, created mental health problems. I was developing severe insomnia; when I did sleep, I slept for three to four hours Even worse, I wasn't giving myself a true break from studying.
What came as a result was a psychotic episode from sleep deprivation. I was hospitalized on the last day of finals week, missing an exam – which is every student's nightmare. But chances are that I would've missed it anyways; I was in no way capable of remembering it in my psychotic state.
An article from Psychology Today states that "three in one thousand college students reported being diagnosed with schizophrenia, a chronic psychotic disorder." But psychosis can also be short-lived; it may occur out of stress, trauma, depression, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse.
I was hospitalized for my psychotic episode and left Tallahassee to seek recovery back home. School was put on hold while I was in treatment. I wouldn't fully snap out of the episode until three months later when the medication started to work.
My psychotic episode indicated a larger problem in my mental health; I would be diagnosed with Bipolar disorder in 2014 after a suicide attempt. The episode also prevented me from setting foot on any college campus again for the fear that it would happen again.
I got over my fear eventually; a year later, I went to my community college despite the ongoing problems I had. I lived at home with my family while doing so. Because it was still early in the recovery process, I still had the fear and paranoia. And once again, college would be affected by my mental state.
Through the eight years I was in college, I struggled with many manic and depressive episodes. My schoolwork would be paused while I was in the hospital's psych ward, or I would try to work on assignments (when I was voluntary) with pencil and paper since electronic devices and pens were forbidden to patients.
The episodes still occur – but thanks to the efficacy of my current medication, I am stable enough to know my symptoms. I am grateful for all the therapy too because I have the knowledge of how to handle the episodes with care.
If I had learned the value of my mental health in my first year though, I could've prevented that psychotic episode. But because all I wanted was to be successful in college, I didn't take care of myself in the ways I needed.
My case may seem a little extreme – you may be debating if your procrastination and bad study habits can develop into something so severe as my bad study habits. Most likely, it won't. But that doesn't mean you forget about what's important.
What's important is your mental health.
After all, your mind is in control of everything you do. And if you deprive it or push it too hard, you're doing the same thing to your energy. I'm encouraging you to take care of yourself when you study for midterms and finals. You, as a human, are more important than your out