Falling Asleep?

I've got a big problem. I keep falling asleep during my first hour class and it's not because of how much sleep I'm getting. I get plenty of sleep, so my next thought is that it's either brought on by a medication I'm taking (my psychiatrist did say that Lithium can cause the drowsiness) or it's my actual mental illness itself. Either way, I'm falling asleep and I can't help myself! It's really making me fall behind in this class and it's embarrassing to me to have a teacher constantly asking if I'm alright.

Has this happened to anyone else? And does anyone know how to deal with this? I really need some help.

Thank you!

Used to happen to me a lot, if i woke up for my class at all. there were times i slept through 3 hours of alarms. Turns out my pdoc had my Depakote levels 3x too high. he said, " I'm surprised you could even move!"

It could also be that the class bores you. Is it any easy class? Does it mentally stimulate you, or is it something that you really don't care much about, or you've already had in highschool or other classes. I had a big problem with this in Biology. I had take AP bio in highschool, so the entry level college course was all repeating things i had already learned. I slept nearly every class and almost failed, but pulled off a C becuase I enjoyed the lab and got a perfect score on nearly all of them.

I'm only 1.5 years out of school so let me know if there's any other class related things i could help you with

I had instances of falling asleep in front of my colleagues at work, during a presentation, it was embarassing then and it embarasses me now to look back and I have no solution other than, possibly (I think, I have not tested it), do VIGOROUS exercise in the AM.

Let me know when you find a solution. I have the same problem; mainly during presentations at work. I'm ok it I'm sitting in front of my desk doing my own work, but when I'm expected to listen to a presentation, I can easily dose off

If you associate THAT class with a nap, you will fall asleep because of the association. (Classical conditioning)

Try to stay active by taking notes and keeping electronics away.

Well, it's an online class so it's terribly boring. So that doesn't help matters much at all. I sit in front of a computer screen all class period, doing nothing but reading and answering questions. I don't know how to make it less boring... For today, I'm settling for drinking caffiene. Not the healthiest option, but if it works, I don't mind doing it a few times. Glad to know others have the same problem!

I used to have a lot of trouble staying awake in classes at times. I found that it helps to have something to do with my hands - knitting or doodling.

Also, I second the suggestion of AM exercise. I was probably at my healthiest and most stable when I was getting a half-hour of circuit training at 6 AM every day. It really wakes me up and makes the rest of the day go a lot better - it's just really hard to make myself do it.