anyone with schizoaffective or bipolar disorder? how does it affect academics?

[intuition]

I guess I was recently diagnosed. It makes it so hard to focus or study sometimes( or most of the time) I'm on meds, but they only help me so much. anyone else feeling like their grades aren't as great as they could be? I don't think I'm doing that bad, I'll have all A's and a C in physics, I've gotten 2 C's before, and I'm not sure how that'll factor into med school admissions. and I really don't want to do a Post Bach (i think that's how you spell it)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Begaster]

Are you sure medicine is for you, then? I mean, for the most part, medicine is a grind. You study non-stop. If you already have trouble focusing with a much lower quantity of material, what are you going to do when you have to study five times as much?

Not trying to crush your hopes and dreams, just some food for thought.

 

[aaj117]

I was initially misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, although a few years later i was told that it was not in fact bipolar disorder, but severe depression, and bipolar disorder is very difficult to diagnose in young patients. I was put on medication for this while still in high school, but i hated it and chose to go off of it very quickly. i didn't tell my family i wasn't taking it anymore, because that was a condition of them letting me back in their house afte they had kicked me out. Later in high school, my psychiatrist told me that he believed that i had so much trouble iwth the medication because i wasn't actually bipolar, only depressed, and knowing me longer and seeing my cycles he could tell this. I initially chose not to go on medication for the depression because i felt like it would make me a fake happy, and wasn't what i wanted. I was uncomfortable wtih the idea of medication and decided to just do the best i could with my depression. Freshman year of college i was the most miserable i'd ever been. I lost 55lbs from January to April, and should have gained self confidence but was just more unhappy then ever. Then one night, i was doing a shift on the ambulance, and we got a call for an 18 y/o male overdose. It ended up being one of my best friends in the world, who had attempted suicide. This scared me more than anything-- I was so afriad that this would be me if i continued to refuse medication, and i just couldn't do that to my friends. I finally went on medication, and it was definitely hard in the beginning, i did feel kind of zombie-ish, like i had very little control over my emotions. But with time and alterations in dosages, it began to help me a lot. My grades went up, because i was able to get out of bed every morning and start going to classes, doing my work, going out with friends, and being essentailly normal. If it wasn't for going on medication, i highly doubt that i would have been able to finish college or be where i am now.

 

[Begaster]

Derail, but how's your friend doing?

 

[aaj117]

Derail, but how's your friend doing?

Unfortunately i've had to really distance myself from him-- he got extremely into some heavy drugs, and after more than a year of trying to help him as much as i could, i just couldn't do it anymore; he didn't want to stop taking the drugs, didn't want to go back to school, didn't really want to get better. And if someone doesn't want to help themselves, there's little you can do to help them. It was bringing me down further without changing much for him. I actually ran into him thanksgiving weekend this year, and he seems to have cleaned up a little bit, was working as a cashier at a grocery store and applying to an electrician training program.

 

[Begaster]

Ah, sorry to hear that.

 

[DDoodlesworth]

I guess I was recently diagnosed. It makes it so hard to focus or study sometimes( or most of the time) I'm on meds, but they only help me so much. anyone else feeling like their grades aren't as great as they could be? I don't think I'm doing that bad, I'll have all A's and a C in physics, I've gotten 2 C's before, and I'm not sure how that'll factor into med school admissions. and I really don't want to do a Post Bach (i think that's how you spell it)

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Just because your neurocog deviates from the mainstream doesn't make you inferior or insufficient only different. You may even have some perceptual abilities or associative wiring that will provide you with an advantage. Also, don't forget that these diagnoses are apparitions that are convenient to the the salaries and job security of psychiatrists and pharma. If the drugs help you that's great but if they don't then drop them and make sure you get a second opinion.

 

[da me ka don]

I was initially misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, although a few years later i was told that it was not in fact bipolar disorder, but severe depression, and bipolar disorder is very difficult to diagnose in young patients. I was put on medication for this while still in high school, but i hated it and chose to go off of it very quickly. i didn't tell my family i wasn't taking it anymore, because that was a condition of them letting me back in their house afte they had kicked me out. Later in high school, my psychiatrist told me that he believed that i had so much trouble iwth the medication because i wasn't actually bipolar, only depressed, and knowing me longer and seeing my cycles he could tell this. I initially chose not to go on medication for the depression because i felt like it would make me a fake happy, and wasn't what i wanted. I was uncomfortable wtih the idea of medication and decided to just do the best i could with my depression. Freshman year of college i was the most miserable i'd ever been. I lost 55lbs from January to April, and should have gained self confidence but was just more unhappy then ever. Then one night, i was doing a shift on the ambulance, and we got a call for an 18 y/o male overdose. It ended up being one of my best friends in the world, who had attempted suicide. This scared me more than anything-- I was so afriad that this would be me if i continued to refuse medication, and i just couldn't do that to my friends. I finally went on medication, and it was definitely hard in the beginning, i did feel kind of zombie-ish, like i had very little control over my emotions. But with time and alterations in dosages, it began to help me a lot. My grades went up, because i was able to get out of bed every morning and start going to classes, doing my work, going out with friends, and being essentailly normal. If it wasn't for going on medication, i highly doubt that i would have been able to finish college or be where i am now.

People like you who take hurdles in their lives like that and overcome it make me ashamed that I am quite ungrateful. I feel that from now, and in the future, you will be a big inspiration to a lot of youngsters who sit in the corner in their high school classes and so on.
aaj117, you are becoming one of my favorite SDNers, but you have not got to rank of role model yet...lol
Anyways, I admire your courage.

Btw, does this sound like a*s kissing? Ah well.

 

[Maxprime]

If you can make the grades, it's a pretty good sign that you can handle med school. I'm not trying to sound preachy, but just make sure to stay on top of your meds. I've had experience with people with BD in the past and they always tend to stop taking their meds once things go well for a while.

Congrats on the good grades, you're dealing with a lot more than most people at that GPA level.

 

[Purtyangel22]

I recently overcame some mental health problems, and people can be so negative about it. It happens!!! People try to make you feel like its your fault or that you are a bad person, but its not the case. It takes a strong person to overcome something like that, and it takes a strong person to survive the path to becoming a doctor. It took me about a year of really,really hard work. Anyways, I had to take some time off of school, and am still on leave, but I am trying to work on my concentration because I am having some of the same problems. First, i would reccommed talking with your doc about switching meds instead of stopping them. Certain drugs give people weird side effects, like the inability to concentrate. I have had side effects from certain drugs and simple switches helped a lot. Also, DBT skills groups are helpful in this area. I have a link to a good page if you want it or a lot of hospitals or couseling centers offer these groups. Basically, you learn skills to overcome distractions, deal with stress, blah blah blah. But its been really helpful to me and something that I had never heard a lot about.

Anyway, PM me if you want to chat more openly about our specific situations, I would be happy to share with you, I just dont want to paste every detail about my situation on the board.

 

[ghostfoot]

Are you sure medicine is for you, then? I mean, for the most part, medicine is a grind. You study non-stop. If you already have trouble focusing with a much lower quantity of material, what are you going to do when you have to study five times as much?

Not trying to crush your hopes and dreams, just some food for thought.

Are you sure med school requires 5x as much studying? If you take a heavy load in undergrad, it might not be too far off from that based on what people here have said.

To the OP: I hope everything works out for you. A lot of people have trouble focusing and find ways to get by.

 

[Maxprime]

Are you sure med school requires 5x as much studying? If you take a heavy load in undergrad, it might not be too far off from that based on what people here have said.

To the OP: I hope everything works out for you. A lot of people have trouble focusing and find ways to get by.

I think 5x is an overstatement. I'm not a med student, but I have never spoken to one that says they do 5x the work they did in undergrad. If you are making grades, odds are that your workload won't go up an exorbitant amount. The big differences are how much more time you spend in class and how much you have to study for exams (in the days leading up to them).

 

[t-funk]

I guess I was recently diagnosed. It makes it so hard to focus or study sometimes( or most of the time) I'm on meds, but they only help me so much. anyone else feeling like their grades aren't as great as they could be? I don't think I'm doing that bad, I'll have all A's and a C in physics, I've gotten 2 C's before, and I'm not sure how that'll factor into med school admissions. and I really don't want to do a Post Bach (i think that's how you spell it)

I don't think there should be any issue with you doing what you want to do in life and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. My mom is a very successful, talented, and well-paid computer programmer who also has bipolar with schizoaffective disorder. Her manic episodes are so bad that she can not even recognize me when she is having one. As another person said, she tried to go off of her medications twice, when I was 16 and 20, and ended up in the mental hospital for a couple of months each time. Bouncing back to normal from the medication change, however, probably took about a year each time. We thought it would never happen again and last month she ended up in the hospital again due to a drug interaction with steroids for her back pain. Fortunately it was caught fast enough and she is already back at work programming.

Overall, if you stay on your medication I think you should be fine. I would make sure the medication is apropriate for you though bc you will probably be on it for life and continue to resort to stronger and stronger ones. I personally believe my mom's problems actually started by taking prozac for depression, bc I had an EVIL step-father, back in the eighties and just progressed from there. I think being a physician would actually be very good bc you have some actual perspective in having a medical condition like this.

 

[aaj117]

People like you who take hurdles in their lives like that and overcome it make me ashamed that I am quite ungrateful. I feel that from now, and in the future, you will be a big inspiration to a lot of youngsters who sit in the corner in their high school classes and so on.
aaj117, you are becoming one of my favorite SDNers, but you have not got to rank of role model yet...lol
Anyways, I admire your courage.

Btw, does this sound like a*s kissing? Ah well.

Aww thank you!!! This is definitely the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me on SDN.

To the OP: what other posters are saying about compliance with medication can't be overemphasized. Going off your medication for any reason will cause you nothing but problems. Make sure if you are having any issues with your meds you see your doctor right away rather than trying to deal wiht it yourself. If it becomes a monetary issue, find help. Lots of universities have special dean's funds set up to pay for student's prescribed medications if students can't afford them. Just remember that this is something that you can control, and not doing so will only serve to hurt yourself.

 

[pluripotent]

My best friend is dissociative schizo. I still remember the first time he told me. He was shaking and terrified at telling me because he had experiences with past friends who stopped being his friend over it.

What shocked me was how much he believed in his own illness. He crucified himself internally, but appeared to me as an intelligent, functional person. He was the best student in our class, and the minor eccentricities in his character were easily overlooked as most highly intelligent individuals have interesting personalities. He had been through the gauntlet as a kid with a parental divorce, negligence, continous relocation, and an abusive step-father. I admire him more than anyone and I'll endow my gravestone with his wise words, "Never let the experiences or illness define you."

 

[loopy]

i know someone with bipolar disorder and was in medical school. I would say he had a different learning style, never went to classes and used the class time to study by himself in the library. He used to work 2 jobs as well while in M1 through M5, one of which was his own setup/mini-business. i think he is going to graduate with honors as well.
So, possibilities are endless, just believe in yourself---remember the glass is half full.

 

[loopy]

also he used to have intense mood swings in some seasons.....

 

[TigerSoup]

I don't have any firsthand advice to give, but your post reminded me of a book I read in high school, "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison, who is a professor of psychiatry at JHU who developed bipolar disorder as a teenager. It's been a long time since I've looked at it, so I don't know whether it might be useful to you or not.