<p>I am so glad you are getting help. My brother has struggled with mental illness for many years, and his challenge has been doing what he needs to do to maintain his mental health. He has trouble believing that he is worth the effort he needs to put into himself. Please continue to work toward helping yourself. You are worth it. I know it is hard, but it is worth the work.</p>
<p>advicesought-I sincerely hope you are on the road to a better life now that you are “in the system”. My little d had some very similar experiences, although not in college yet, and not facing homelessness-so where is the similarity? In not letting anyone know that she needed help-not trusting friends/family/good strangers and administrators. Being afraid to ask. Hiding her feelings and terror of the world. Trying to take care of the “problem” herself. As with a lot of things, a terrible event brought everything out into the light and now she is back on track and learning to ask for help, to listen to her body and her thoughts and to take better care of herself physically, mentally, emotionally. </p>
<p>To her surprise, no one judged her perceived imperfections; they rallied around her. Not to say that things are not a daily struggle, but she now has some tools to work with. I am much more careful with her now and understand how different she is than my other child. This has been a learning process for all of us. Through all of this you may even find a way to have some level of contact with your family, although that may be a ways off before you are strong enough or inclined.</p>
<p>Take this time to slow everything down. Use your good judgement and listen to your heart about who to trust as you work with professionals. As with any medical issue, you must be your own advocate, especially if you begin meds. That can be a rocky road in and of itself. You are only at the beginning of this section of your journey and I very much hope that you find the right people along the way to help guide you through. It’s a group project-don’t go it alone. And don’t ever give up.</p>
<p>Hello! Yes, most clergy will be happy to talk to you even if they’ve never seen you before, and where you are with your faith won’t make a difference to most of them. Also, any faculty or administrators at your school may be able to help. If there is a professor who you feel comfortable with, please confide in him or her and ask for help. I’m a professor, and I am always happy to help students who come to me with all sorts of issues. Your world is full of people who care about you and want to help you. Don’t be afraid to ask. I was in a similar situation as an undergraduate and received help from a number of sources. Hang in there; you’ll be in my prayers.</p>
<p>right now I’m a non-traditional student at New Mexico State University-Dona Ana " Branch", aka: DACC , and I wish I knew what to say. I’m on a disability check and, to make matters worse, I’m a transgender woman. Before coming here to Las Cruces, NM [ a decision I regret somewhat], I spent two years homeless; traveling from Connecticut to California twice, back east to CT and Western NY, to Denver and back to CT and NY City. Sick of the shelter I was in, I ended up charting a course for Albuquerque, NM and somehow ended up here in the " Borderland"; a fairly conservative area. Considering returning to college, twice I gave up opportunities; the first time in rural Western NY [ where I lived temporarily at a " Welfare Motel" half paid by DSS] when I was accepted for Fine Arts to SUNY Corning C.C. and , in Denver area for Creative Writing AA at Arapahoe C.C. I was so frustrated with the lack of housing opportunites I didn’t even consider applying to school in NYC-home of some awesome liberal arts like NYU, CCNY, and [ in Westchester Co. ] SUNY’s flagship liberal/creative arts Univ. called Purchase College-one I’m planning to apply to soon.
I wish that I could say that social services will help, however, when I got to CA the " Governator" Arnold S. had the state $20-billion in debt; Chico State layed off 1/3 of its professors and Butte County had NO help for housing [in Jan. 2010]. Same with Oregon, where " Apply for Section Eight and wait" was the only answer I got. Many " faith-based" agencies DISCRIMINATE against LGBTQ’s; as do landlords in states without anti-discrimination laws. [The only thing good I can say was that I wrote 17 noteboook-sized journals and am currently editing them into a manuscript for a self-published novel.]
Here, Messilla Valley Community of Hope helped me get a place, but the HUD subsidy lasted only thirteen months. I was using part of a $2,250 Stafford Loan [ subsidized] for Dec. and Jan. Rent plus utilities; I decided to move into NMSU on-campus apts. which my Pell Grants from Dona Ana C.C. cover in full-all utilities, basic cable and INTERNET included; despite the fact they are small efficencies and I share a bath with a bathroom-mate I never met yet. [Again, New Mexico Human Services offered NO help with housing deposits for former off campus cottage, and $128 measley heating assistance; on campus, everything is included. ] .
I’ll end by saying I am not sure how much help California will offer through DSS/DHS or whatever they call it; it’s called ISD and DHS in New Mexico-a very poor state with a 17% reading/math comprehension rate in the high schools! I’d like to assume that Jerry Brown has done something, but I’m not sure if he has, or even could? If you’re LGBT and gender non-conforming, these " faith-based" agencies will often discriminate against you. ACCORD [ Steuben Churchpeople Against Poverty] in Steuben County, NY did to me; same for the shelter system [ and police after my assault] in Danbury, Connecticut [ Something now illegal under CT’s California-like " Gender Identity and Expression" Law of 2012]. But if you are " normal" in their eyes, then you may get some help. Unitarian Societies tend to be small, but very liberal churches; however, the churches whose agencies offer help/operate shelters tend to be conservative; e.g. Evangelical, Baptist, Catholic ones. Good luck!</p>
<p>Okay, I’m way late to this conversation and do wish I had stumbled upon it sooner… I’m not sure if they’ll be allowing you access to the Internet during the hold, but just in case:</p>
<p>Psych nurse of 10+ years here: Most (but certainly not all) advice given in this thread has been stellar. Whether it was any/all urging here or completely on your own volition, good girl for finding yourself services. Being strong and brave enough to go through with such a bold and scary move ought to be among your proudest moments in life and don’t let anyone ever try to tell you otherwise. </p>
<p>I sincerely hope that you are safe, wherever you are, and that you are receiving quality treatment. If the latter is true, then this should’ve already been addressed by your counselor and/or social worker at this point, but just in case it hasn’t, there is one important thing worth knowing that I don’t believe has been mentioned here yet, at least not explicitly (forgive me if it has and I’ve just missed it):</p>
<p>Aside from the fact that there are countless strangers/friends/faculty/etc. that would be willing and eager to help in any way they can, you should be aware that you also have a <em>legal</em> right to at least some aspects of access to services, and that unless you’re in the tiniest handful of exceptions, your university has not only moral but <em>legal</em> obligation to assist any student who finds themselves in legitimate crisis. </p>
<p>To be clear, I am in no way suggesting that a litigious approach ought be one’s first strategy, and I would prefer not to believe that there is a credible college in the nation that would continue to adamantly refuse someone help on their own volition, provided that the right person/people had been made truly aware of the gravity of a situation; that being said, though, knowledge is power, and knowing that you also have some degree of legal right to help and treatment is, I think, an important thing to know. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and should you or anyone else find themselves in a state of complete crisis and feel that you have been generally ignored or dismissed by their college – if ultimately threatening a lawsuit or contacting the ACLU is literally the only option left to make someone actually listen to you and at least attempt to get you the help you need, then, by all means, USE IT. We do what we have to do to survive. </p>
<p>Below you’ll find a link to a somewhat decent “layman’s” explanation of some of the laws to which I refer, along with a few relevant key passages (so sorry for the length, but to anyone in a similar situation as well as the OP, I think it’s important and worth a read):</p>
<p>". . . Nonetheless, assuming that the duty to investigate is implied within federal law, colleges still would not be expected to provide accommodations until the student notifies officials of his or her disability and provides the necessary corroborating documentation. The student cannot rely on professors to “witness the symptoms suffered” and draw conclusions as to the nature and extent of the disability (Aloia v. New York Law School, 1988, p. 6; see also Goodwin v. Keuka College, 1995; Rossomando v. Board of Regents of University of Nebraska, 1998; Salehpour v. University of Tennessee, 1998; Salvador v. Bennett, 1986; Scott v. Western State University College of Law, 1997). This position is indirectly supported by the ADA in an employment context: The term “discriminate” is defined as “not making reasonable accommodations to the known . . . limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability” (emphasis added) (42 U.S.C. § 12112(b) (5)(A); see also Tips v. Regents of Texas Tech University, 1996).</p>
<p>"Once a student has sufficiently documented that he or she has a qualifying disability, a college is responsible for providing reasonable accommodations or modifications that do not result in unfair advantage, require significant alteration to the program or activity, result in the lowering of academic or technical standards, or cause the college to incur undue financial hardship. When accommodations are necessary they must be provided in a timely fashion (Smith v. State University of New York, 1997) and include, but are not limited to, adjustments in. time lines for the completion of degree requirements, substitutions for course requirements, adaptation of specific courses in the way they are delivered, the use of tape recorders in classrooms (San Francisco State University, 1997), auxiliary aids such as interpreters (Indiana Department Of Human Services v. Firth, 1992), readers in libraries for students with visual impairments, classroom equipment adapted for use by students with manual impairments, or the use of a guide dog in campus buildings (34 C.F.R. § 104.44(b)). However, colleges are not required to provide personal health care attendants, readers for personal use or study, or other personal devices or services (34 C.F.R. § 104.44(d)(2)).</p>
<p>"Title III of the [1990 Americans with Disabilities Act] further prohibits entities that operate places of public accommodation from discriminating against persons with disabilities by denying them full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations they provide (42 U.S.C. § 12182(a)). Discrimination, harassment, constructive dismissal (i.e., forcing a student to withdraw), and retaliation (i.e., adverse treatment directed toward a student for having filed a complaint with the OCR, Department of Justice [DOJ], or the courts) claims are feasible under the ADA, as well as Section 504 (see, e.g., “Doe " v. Marshall, 1995; Kapiolani Community College, 1997; Ostrach v. Regents of University of California, 1997; Rothman v. Emory University, 1997; Wood v. President and Trustees of Spring Hill College, 1992). Private colleges (including nonrecipient institutions) operate places of public accommodation and must, therefore, comply with Title 111. The DOJ is responsible for the enforcement of Title III.”</p>
<p>[College</a> Students and Disability Law | LD Topics | LD OnLine](<a href=“http://www.ldonline.org/article/6082/]College”>http://www.ldonline.org/article/6082/)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I am in NO WAY offering legal advice, do not personally vouch for the credibility of anything even resembling legal advice mentioned either here or on linked site, and I am certainly not a lawyer myself (thank GOD! :)); but if there are 2 things I learned from almost a decade in mental health, it will serve you well to (a) know your options - ALL of them; and (b) know your legal rights. </p>
<p>One last thing and then I swear I’ll end perhaps the longest CC post of all time: If you hear nothing else I’ve said, pleasepleaseplease, do hear this: No matter how helpless / hopeless / alone / ignored one may feel, now or ever, there is <em>absolutely</em> ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS help available for anyone in a situation similar to yours; most unfortunately, these resources aren’t always easy to find - but never give up and never stop looking, because they are out there somewhere; it is only a matter of finding them. </p>
<p>I wish you all the best in life, and I sincerely hope you find happiness. You deserve it. </p>
<p>We all do. </p>
<p>K</p>
<p>It sounds like you have received some wonderful advice and things are improving. In one of your previous post you mentioned that you are not a religious person. Remember, God will hear your prayers even if you are not religious. Also, now is a time to work with someone to help you get connected. Just take it a day at a time. </p>
<p>In addition, keep in mind that it is bad PR for the school to push a student out into the streets with your health concerns. Don’t hesitate to meet with your College Dean, Adviser, or trusted faculty member and let them know your situation. These people are a wealth of information and will assist you. </p>
<p>Each of us on this board will pray for you and encourage you through this process.</p>
<p>Stay strong!</p>
<p>OP,
Since you are now in a medical facility, please touch base with your school to see about getting a medical withdrawal from your courses so you can protect your ability to return to that school or another one. If you can contact your advisor with an update on where you are, he/she may be able to take care of this for you.</p>
<p>Healing thoughts and best wishes are headed your way.</p>
<p>I sent an email to the OP, asking her to check in. I’m really hoping that things are getting better for her!</p>
<p>Please know there are many of us in this virtual world thinking of you and hoping for the very best for you…</p>
<p>OP, please check in.</p>
<p>Bumping, hoping for an update.</p>
<p>^ I’ve sent a couple of emails to the OP to ask for an update and have gotten nothing. It really worries me. </p>
<p>I am hoping that as part of her therapy that she is avoiding email and that we will eventually hear back from her.</p>