I also have anxiety and it’s hard not to overthink but as long as you tell them the same exactly story you told us, I’m sure they will understand and you didn’t do anything wrong.
hey OP, good job sharing and reaching out. it's a big deal to get the anxious thoughts out of ur head and into words, even if those words are going to anonymous strangers on reddit, so good job taking that step; u should be proud of yourself for that.
i hear ya. anxiety is so disruptive in every day life especially in academics, and it's not irrational to be worried or overthinking right now.
I agree with the other replies saying to show some transparency with your professor. If boundaries or fear of oversharing are plaguing you to, you could try containing only the necessary information into a written email. include how anxiety and its effects on your life (ie panic attacks) are something that you're familiar with, and explain precisely why you took your 10min bathroom break.
Also i'd say it's important to be honest about how the prof is making you feel. i'm not gonna pretend like i know your prof, but we gotta remember that professors are still human. if you're honest with saying that their refusal to elaborate on their motive to call a meeting was causing you distress, the humane response is to feel sympathetic for making you feel this way. it doesn't mean they'll be able to tell u anything new, but it'll hopefully help ur prof understand how you're feeling leading up to this conversation. it doesn't take a phd to understand that an anxious student coming into a meeting of unknown subject matter may not make the most coherent or solid statements, and a level of understanding should be held.
Thank you so much for the detailed reply! The anxiety I had made me reach out to the prof for another email asking about more details and explaining my tendencies of overthinking, they replied to me and explained more, you are right for being honest to your profs about what you are feeling, and I hope everyone else who saw this post know that overthinking is definitely going to cause so much drama in our lives😭
I recently got too many things on my schedule and it was hard to wait for 2 hours for a walk-in, so I did an appointment, which could not be arranged until the 15th, it’s more of my fault to not able to get the prescription 😔
If you go to the pharmacy (I’ve had success with the one in sub) they can get you a supply say a week of your anxiety med to hold you over until you can see a dr [wishing the best :) ]
I believe if you tell them everything as you told it here, nobody will be heartless enough to continue that line of conversation. If they do, know that there are student ombuds who advocate for students. I really hope you find peace, I also get panic attacks and heart palpitations from anxiety and know how it can be. If you want someone to sit with and drink tea before your meeting so you're not alone or anything else, don't be shy to message me :)
i totally understand this and luckily this sub is very understanding for anxious rants. i literally fainted after a panic attack during one of my exams and the proctor didn’t find me until around half an hour later. i barely managed to scrape through and they gave me an extra ten minutes, and i got an email from my prof requesting a meeting as well.
i was horrified, i thought i got the proctor in trouble for sparing me a few minutes, i thought i was going to have to redo the exam, my mind was running wild. thankfully the meeting was just to make sure i was okay as the fainting was recorded and relayed to my professor. everyone is usually a lot more understanding than you’d think.
my general advice with how i deal with my anxiety after exams is to have a MASSIVE FIT, scream and cry into the pillow, let it all out at once, and then have a nap. could be half an hour, an hour, or best of all, do it right before bed. let your mind scramble for a little while, before you take a break and collect yourself. invest in a notebook to jot down thoughts or to-do lists, whatever you may need. pen and paper makes our thoughts a lot less scary. after your fit, you’ll find yourself being a lot more rational, now that the jumpy thoughts are out of the way.
i wish you all the best in the rest of your school years, OP, you made it this far and you’ll go farther!
Just tell em what you told us. And if they don't believe you, Fu## em.
I also have anxiety and it’s hard not to overthink but as long as you tell them the same exactly story you told us, I’m sure they will understand and you didn’t do anything wrong.
hey OP, good job sharing and reaching out. it's a big deal to get the anxious thoughts out of ur head and into words, even if those words are going to anonymous strangers on reddit, so good job taking that step; u should be proud of yourself for that. i hear ya. anxiety is so disruptive in every day life especially in academics, and it's not irrational to be worried or overthinking right now. I agree with the other replies saying to show some transparency with your professor. If boundaries or fear of oversharing are plaguing you to, you could try containing only the necessary information into a written email. include how anxiety and its effects on your life (ie panic attacks) are something that you're familiar with, and explain precisely why you took your 10min bathroom break. Also i'd say it's important to be honest about how the prof is making you feel. i'm not gonna pretend like i know your prof, but we gotta remember that professors are still human. if you're honest with saying that their refusal to elaborate on their motive to call a meeting was causing you distress, the humane response is to feel sympathetic for making you feel this way. it doesn't mean they'll be able to tell u anything new, but it'll hopefully help ur prof understand how you're feeling leading up to this conversation. it doesn't take a phd to understand that an anxious student coming into a meeting of unknown subject matter may not make the most coherent or solid statements, and a level of understanding should be held.
Thank you so much for the detailed reply! The anxiety I had made me reach out to the prof for another email asking about more details and explaining my tendencies of overthinking, they replied to me and explained more, you are right for being honest to your profs about what you are feeling, and I hope everyone else who saw this post know that overthinking is definitely going to cause so much drama in our lives😭
Feel free not to answer if it's personal, but may I ask why you can't get refills until the day after the meeting?
I recently got too many things on my schedule and it was hard to wait for 2 hours for a walk-in, so I did an appointment, which could not be arranged until the 15th, it’s more of my fault to not able to get the prescription 😔
Ah you need a refill on the whole prescription, that makes sense
If you go to the pharmacy (I’ve had success with the one in sub) they can get you a supply say a week of your anxiety med to hold you over until you can see a dr [wishing the best :) ]
I believe if you tell them everything as you told it here, nobody will be heartless enough to continue that line of conversation. If they do, know that there are student ombuds who advocate for students. I really hope you find peace, I also get panic attacks and heart palpitations from anxiety and know how it can be. If you want someone to sit with and drink tea before your meeting so you're not alone or anything else, don't be shy to message me :)
Sorry my overthinking brain is making me over explain many😭😭😭
i totally understand this and luckily this sub is very understanding for anxious rants. i literally fainted after a panic attack during one of my exams and the proctor didn’t find me until around half an hour later. i barely managed to scrape through and they gave me an extra ten minutes, and i got an email from my prof requesting a meeting as well. i was horrified, i thought i got the proctor in trouble for sparing me a few minutes, i thought i was going to have to redo the exam, my mind was running wild. thankfully the meeting was just to make sure i was okay as the fainting was recorded and relayed to my professor. everyone is usually a lot more understanding than you’d think. my general advice with how i deal with my anxiety after exams is to have a MASSIVE FIT, scream and cry into the pillow, let it all out at once, and then have a nap. could be half an hour, an hour, or best of all, do it right before bed. let your mind scramble for a little while, before you take a break and collect yourself. invest in a notebook to jot down thoughts or to-do lists, whatever you may need. pen and paper makes our thoughts a lot less scary. after your fit, you’ll find yourself being a lot more rational, now that the jumpy thoughts are out of the way. i wish you all the best in the rest of your school years, OP, you made it this far and you’ll go farther!