College Confidential
» CC HOME » FORUM HOME

  College Confidential > Pre-College Issues > Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
New User

Welcome to College Confidential!
The leading college-bound community on the web
Join for FREE now, and start talking with other members, weighing in on community polls, and more.

Also, by registering and logging in you'll see fewer ads and pesky welcome messages (like this one)!
Discussion Menu
»Discussion Home
»Help & Rules
»Latest Posts
»NEW! CampusVibe™
»Stats Profiles
Top Forums
»College Chances
»College Search
»College Admissions
»Financial Aid
»SAT/ACT
»Parents
»Colleges
»Ivy League
Main CC Site
»College Confidential
»College Search
»College Admissions
»Paying for College
Sponsors
SuperMatch - The Future of College Search!
CampusVibe - Almost As Good As A Campus Visit!
Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 03-21-2009, 12:22 AM   #1
New Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 4
Schizophrenia and College?

Hi! I am currently a high school junior and since middle school I have struggled with DIAGNOSED schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. I'm a cheerleader and straight A student... but things havent always been this way... I was just curious about the experiences people have had in applying for college/ getting into college/ adjusting to college who have such mental illnessess since I will be applying to college soon in would be nice to hear some advice and personal anecdotes from others with bipolar disorder/ schizophrenia since everything on CC seems to be about ADD/ ADHD! Thanks and I'm excited to hear from others like me (I hope you are out there!)
annah is offline   Reply   
Old 03-22-2009, 03:10 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,779
Annah, please post this in the college life section as well since I think more people your age post there.
bessie is offline   Reply   
Old 03-25-2009, 09:21 PM   #3
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 134
Annah,

First of all, good job on being so resilient and starting to plan for the next stage of your life. My daughter is also diagnosed bipolar and has psychotic/paranoid features and will be heading to college in just a short couple of years.

Also, if you've never read the book, An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison, I would highly recommend it. Much of the book describes her childhood and college years initially UNTREATED and how she managed to get through a PHD program despite being bipolar.

I think one of the most important things will be recreating your support network that is obviously working so well for you right now in a college environment. Keeping a schedule/routine, where you will get your meds and counseling, and getting in contact with a strong Office of Disabilities services who will be able to work with you and your professors if you need breaks or support with classes.

College is like Vegas, there is something to do or someone up 24 hours a day and keeping a regular schedule and enough sleep is so important for someone who has a mood disorder. Also, as I'm sure you already know psychiatric meds and alcohol, DO NOT MIX and the temptation to experiment can be very strong on a college campus.

Since you are doing so well currently, I am guessing that you have become very good at reading yourself and your symptoms and will need to be your first line of defense at school.

Just an FYI, there are scholarship opportunities for people have mental illnesses as well so keep an eye out for those, too.

Good luck and good job on doing so well in HS!
MamaDrama is offline   Reply   
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:18 PM.




Copyright 2001-2011, Hobsons, Inc., All Rights Reserved