Hey everyone,

I'm a junior in college right now and am taking 19 hours of class (because my basket-weaving degree already takes six years to complete, so I'm trying to stay on track) this semester. I'm seeing a therapist at school whom I like very much. I also get along well with other people in the basket-weaving department and most of my basket-weaving professors are supportive and willing to help me out considering my recent diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

So here's the problem: My older sister, who has had a diagnosis of clinical depression and borderline personality disorder since she was 14 (she's now 29), has recently attempted to kill herself by an overdose of Oxycontin. She is receiving help at the local hospital and has been checked into their psychiatric unit...but this has been so distracting for me lately that I am performing poorly on homework assignments and tests. It's hard for me to stay focused on the things I need to do for class because I'm so worried about my sister.

It's also really hard for me to talk about this, so I don't know how comfortable I am with asking for extensions and understanding from my professors. There is one professor (whom I will see tomorrow) that will be very frustrated with me for not having my assignments complete...but I don't want to talk to him about it. It's hard enough to talk about it with T.

I guess what I'm wondering is, should I get over it and try to talk to them anyway? Has anyone else dealt with being distracted like this? If so, what helped you? I know that communication is generally a good idea, but I would rather find some way to fix myself than try to ask people I respect and admire for help. I guess that's part of the anxiety.

Anyway, thanks for listening. Here's to finding some effective strategies to cope. Any ideas? Anyone?