• Question: Have you ever had a mental breakdown because you were too stressed about something?

    Asked by anon-232915 to Adam, Alin, Anna, Rebecca, Sammie, Varun on 18 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Varun Ramaswamy

      Varun Ramaswamy answered on 18 Nov 2019:

      When I first came to London, my Visa was delayed by one whole month! So I was already stressed about whether they would even let me start my course after missing an entire month. Apart from this, when I got to London, I had to look for a house and I was worried if I would find one that isn’t too expensive because I am already very late…..and while both of these thoughts were constantly worrying me, I also had my first reports and exams in just two weeks and I had to study all by myself, so by the time I had spent only 2 weeks in London, I broke down completely!

      Thankfully, my cousin lives in London and came to help me for an entire month before things finally got better.

    • Photo: Rebecca Shaw

      Rebecca Shaw answered on 19 Nov 2019:

      Yes! During my masters I had to work because I needed money to pay for rent and other bills. I really enjoyed my job at the time too (I was a zookeeper), but they expected me to work full time whilst I was trying to do experiments, study and write up my masters thesis.

      It all got too much and I ended up really ill and in hospital for it!! I had drove myself into the ground really, I was just so exhausted. Thankfully, my supervisor was really understanding and that break in hospital gave me a bit of energy to finish the project and submit the thesis.

      I did get such a shock from managing to get so stressed that I decided to step out of studying for a bit. That’s why I got a job at the university after my masters so I could still be involved in research, but take a break from my own for a while. It really helped and has made me sure of what I want to do in the future.

    • Photo: Samantha Firth

      Samantha Firth answered on 19 Nov 2019:

      I got really stressed out during some of my university exams – i didn’t realised how stressed i was until i decided to go for a late night walk, as a break from the library. I thought i’d walk until I felt less stressed and then catch a bus back. I ended up walking all the way from Mile End to Earls Court – that’s a 3 hour walk! It was nice to see London so quiet at 2AM but definitely clear that i needed to chill slightly 😩🤯

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