Depression and anxiety from dental school work load. How do you deal with it?

[ravenclaw1234]

I'm a D1. I just failed my first clinical in the hand skills lab and I feel extremely deflated. I know it's not the end of the world but I keep reliving what happened in my mind and the anxiety keeps building up. I have never felt so much anxiety in my life till I experienced the dental school work load and I knew I signed up for this. But I feel like a heavy weight is sitting on my chest and I am just always unhappy. Thing is, my friends tell me to just take anxiety meds and everything will get better but I really don't want to depend on meds to help me cause I've seen a friend actually experience withdrawals from not having her anxiety meds refilled on time.

I'm not looking for any comments like "you're just being a baby" or "suck it up everyone goes through this". I'm looking to see if any one has any advice. How did you overcome the anxiety and depression you got from feeling like a complete failure? Any good podcasts or youtube videos to listen to that helped you? I know this is only one fail.. but it is seriously making me question everything. Failing my first hand skills clinical makes me feel as if I'm incompetent to become a dentist. Maybe I'm just overthinking it but damn I'm lost.

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[Faux]

I'll just copy and paste from the other thread.


I won't lie to you, I was an emotional wreck during my first semester of dental school. I never had so many ups and downs in my entire life. I was constantly at an 8-9/10. I'm really surprised I even managed to get the grades I got. First time being alone and on my own, and the weekly train load of information. I was a mess. My dog even died one day into finals, and I also had a huge family situation two week before that But nobody knew my situation through the semester. Just not my style.

But it subsides. Its like going to the gym for the first time, you can barely move the next day. 2-3 weeks later you can go without any soreness. Thats how I am in my 2nd semester of dental school. I'm tested a lot more now with daily,weekly exams/quizzes, but I'm a lot more calmer now. Even one student looked at me crazy today because I told them its not to bad now. Thats how much I was a mess last semester. Its shallow waters now in my opinion. You gain the endurance, you gain the confidence, you gain the faith in your self.

You're going to learn a lot about your self. Good and the bad. But its how you rise up to the challenge and what you do every morning when you're under those circumstances, will determine the kind of person you're going to be.


You're more them welcome to message me in the coming months. I failed my last practical last year. It happens. This is new for you, its new for everyone. Just compete with yourself, no one else, as hard as that may seem.

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[vicsin]

Pretty sure I failed my first practical. I failed quite a few practicals. You know what I did? I focused on my mistakes and promised myself I wouldn't repeat them. I went over it with the instructor and practiced before the next practical, got feedback etc. Even came in on weekends to practice. I improved and I ended up with B's in most of my preclinic labs. As far as general anxiety, yea dental school will do that. I felt constantly on edge for a while. But it definitely got better with time. To manage it I would always try to plan things out. I wrote up a calendar with all exam/practical dates. I would color code it for each exam and plan certain days of the week to dedicate to studying for each exam. 2 days for an easy one 5 days+ for a huge one. And I would also take weekends off every other week or so and hang out with friends or do whatever. Having those to look forward to definitely helped.
Here I am in my 4th year about to graduate. Finished almost all clinic requirements early and I feel confident in my operative skills. Preclinic just gives you the basic motor skills you need. In real life its not so picky with perfect boxes flat floors 1.5 mm etc. Real dentistry is much easier. You'll get the hang of it. Just do your best to improve and have faith in yourself. Schools generally accept 10% of their applicants or less so you made it that far and that means you have what it takes to be a successful student/dentist. Everyone who wanted to be there and tried hard even the strugglers have made it to senior year. You can do it!

 

[ravenclaw1234]

The Sorting Hat takes intellect into account, which is why it placed you in Ravenclaw, the brainiest of the four houses. You have it in you! The hat is never wrong!

Hahah this made me smile thanks 🙂

 

[ravenclaw1234]

Pretty sure I failed my first practical. I failed quite a few practicals. You know what I did? I focused on my mistakes and promised myself I wouldn't repeat them. I went over it with the instructor and practiced before the next practical, got feedback etc. Even came in on weekends to practice. I improved and I ended up with B's in most of my preclinic labs. As far as general anxiety, yea dental school will do that. I felt constantly on edge for a while. But it definitely got better with time. To manage it I would always try to plan things out. I wrote up a calendar with all exam/practical dates. I would color code it for each exam and plan certain days of the week to dedicate to studying for each exam. 2 days for an easy one 5 days+ for a huge one. And I would also take weekends off every other week or so and hang out with friends or do whatever. Having those to look forward to definitely helped.
Here I am in my 4th year about to graduate. Finished almost all clinic requirements early and I feel confident in my operative skills. Preclinic just gives you the basic motor skills you need. In real life its not so picky with perfect boxes flat floors 1.5 mm etc. Real dentistry is much easier. You'll get the hang of it. Just do your best to improve and have faith in yourself. Schools generally accept 10% of their applicants or less so you made it that far and that means you have what it takes to be a successful student/dentist. Everyone who wanted to be there and tried hard even the strugglers have made it to senior year. You can do it!

This definitely gives me hope! I just feel crappy cause I failed the "easy" practical so it's just really putting me down. I know I can learn from my mistakes. It's the anxiety that scares me. I felt myself shaking when I panicked during the practical and it ruined me. Deep breaths weren't working. I'm hoping more practice will get me out of this funk. Thank you for your response.

 

[mikenorm556]

Having friends in dental school helps a lot. It seems the happiest people in my class are the ones who do things with other people in the class. Take care of yourself by eating healthy and staying in shape.