[expressiveone]

I was doing amazing yesterday, however I woke up this morning agitated, racing thoughts, extreme anxiety. I am cycling ever 1-2 days. I have been going through this for the last month.

My grades are now suffering due to my inability to complete some of my school work and inability to study. I have yet to go to the disability office, but I plan to do so this week. Other than that I have about 4 weeks left till finals and I don't know how I am going to be able to manage.

According to my college, I can file for an incomplete(s) if I am only missing a couple of assignments and have a passing grade. At this point I have passing grades but like 3-4 assignments due and a couple more tests before my finals. I honestly don't know how to salvage this semester. I want to go in to tell my advisor what is is going on, but I don't even know where to begin once I have that meeting with her. I should have filed for disability prior to the beginning of the semester but...shoulda, coulda, woulda, I just didn't.

I'm lost as to what I should do or where to even start. It's like now I am at that point where I have officially entered the danger zone. Might I mention that the stress of this is making my cycles so much better...not.

[dragonfly2]

All you can do is go in and talk to your advisor. It's the advisor's job to know what to do next with the information. But, I would do this first thing tomorrow, and not wait any longer.

Hopefully with your doctor's appointment this week you can find some relief and things will settle down. Hang in there.

[expressiveone]

Thanks dragonfly2. Do I come right out and tell her that I'm bipolar or is that tmi?? Should I just tell her I am suffering from and illness? sick? I'm so nervous to go in and talk to her. I'm afraid she is just going to tell me,"tough s***." I dont know what i would do without my ativan. It is preventing me from being hospitalized at this point. I am basically counting my minutes until i see my pdoc. I am so thankful that my suicidal ideation has subsided for the past 48 hours.

[dragonfly2]

At this point, you may actually want to tell her about the bipolar. I'm assuming you're in the US, correct? Bipolar disorder is a covered disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If she does tell you tough s***, you can report her. I'm not sure what is within her power to do, as far as giving you extensions on your assignments and such, but she can't just ignore it. She may just direct you to the school's disability office, so you may want to start with them. Not sure how your school's system works. But this is one case where having a diagnosed bipolar disorder is actually to your advantage and allows you some Federal protection.

[expressiveone]

Thanks for your advice dragonfly2

[dragonfly2]

Here's a link you might find helpful:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs...es.drbrown.htm

This is a very good disability law website. There are a number of links to articles toward the bottom of the page that I think would be good for you to check out so you can go into your meeting knowing what your rights are.

Good luck - and I hope you feel better soon.

[AniManiac]

Originally Posted by dragonfly2

At this point, you may actually want to tell her about the bipolar. I'm assuming you're in the US, correct? Bipolar disorder is a covered disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If she does tell you tough s***, you can report her. I'm not sure what is within her power to do, as far as giving you extensions on your assignments and such, but she can't just ignore it. She may just direct you to the school's disability office, so you may want to start with them. Not sure how your school's system works. But this is one case where having a diagnosed bipolar disorder is actually to your advantage and allows you some Federal protection.

Dragonfly's got good advice here. I'd note that most universities work to inform the faculty about mental health services, and they are all aware of the disability services and accommodations requirements. In most cases, instructors are not permitted to give you any accommodations without first getting official word from disability services. Otherwise every other student would be complaining of MI to get an extension on their assignments...

If you haven't gone to the office of disability services, do that first - but I wouldn't wait long on telling your advisor either. She needs to know that something is up in order to help you. If you haven't done disability services yet, however, there might not be not much they can do for you for this term; do try, as soon as you can, but don't be surprised if you are not given many options for this semester because it's getting so late in the game. Fortunately you already have a dx so they can work with you more quickly than if you didn't! You might be able to get some extensions, etc, but it's unfair to expect instructors to retrospectively retool things for you if you need a bigger adjustment than that.

The sooner you reach out and ask for help, the sooner you'll get it.