I'm a college junior with bipolar disorder, and have questions about approaching teamwork in college assignments. This is the first time in two years that I've had to work intensively with someone else, and on fairly challenging and time-intensive assignments.

Over the last two weeks, my partner and I have been spending 20+ hours a week working together. Initially, I felt that we contributed equally and worked at a similar pace. However, I'm steadily falling behind. My doctor has been adjusting my medication over the last month. My sleeping cycles, moods, mental agility, etc. have been thrown out of whack -- partly due to the medication, and partly because my BP has been acting up.

This has made it harder for me to do enough prep-work before meeting with my partner, and I feel that I'm burdening her. My mind blanks out easily, and she's moving at a much faster pace.I have to keep working with her -- consistently -- for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

With my health in limbo, I don't have much mental stamina, and I blank out easily. Overall, my teamwork situation and general health are not helping my anxiety.

Does anyone have suggestions on how I can improve the dynamic in my team, be more productive, and keep up with my partner? We have at least two team assignments due every week. Any thoughts, suggestions, and examples of similar experiences would be appreciated.

[Little Lulu]

1) Work during the times when you feel most productive when possible, 2) take frequent breaks to rest your body and mind even if you don't want to AND take a few moments to reflect on your progress , 3) do something everyday that inspires you (this helps creativity), 4) eat well and stay hydrated, 5) let go of things in your life that you can do later or don't matter, 6) limit social media and electronics until you are at a good stopping place, 7) consider gently ask your teammate for feedback on your work (it's probably better than you think), 7) reward yourself with something you enjoy each time you finish a project, 8) and last but most important - do your best and let go of the rest. Remember - showing up is 75% of success in life.

Just some ideas - take what you like and leave the test. As I said, I know from my own experience that you are better than you think you are.

Originally Posted by Little Lulu

1) Work during the times when you feel most productive when possible, 2) take frequent breaks to rest your body and mind even if you don't want to AND take a few moments to reflect on your progress , 3) do something everyday that inspires you (this helps creativity), 4) eat well and stay hydrated, 5) let go of things in your life that you can do later or don't matter, 6) limit social media and electronics until you are at a good stopping place, 7) consider gently ask your teammate for feedback on your work (it's probably better than you think), 7) reward yourself with something you enjoy each time you finish a project, 8) and last but most important - do your best and let go of the rest. Remember - showing up is 75% of success in life.

Just some ideas - take what you like and leave the test. As I said, I know from my own experience that you are better than you think you are.

Thank you so much for your suggestions

I've found it helpful to talk to the professor/TA and your partners. My TA actually talked to my group for one of the projects I was working on and told them I had some "family issues" and I might be busy a lot and so it kind of helped in the fact that I had back up. I apologized up front to my teammates and they were really understanding in helping work out what I should be assigned for in the group. I find that keeping an open dialogue is the best option. Tell people something is going on (you don't have to specify, just warn them) and that you're going to do your best but it might be a little hectic. Especially if they think it's an issue out of your control they won't be too upset as long as you apologize a lot and try to help out where you can.

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by keeprolling

I've found it helpful to talk to the professor/TA and your partners. My TA actually talked to my group for one of the projects I was working on and told them I had some "family issues" and I might be busy a lot and so it kind of helped in the fact that I had back up. I apologized up front to my teammates and they were really understanding in helping work out what I should be assigned for in the group. I find that keeping an open dialogue is the best option. Tell people something is going on (you don't have to specify, just warn them) and that you're going to do your best but it might be a little hectic. Especially if they think it's an issue out of your control they won't be too upset as long as you apologize a lot and try to help out where you can.

Best of luck!

Thanks Keeprolling! That's actually a great idea. How would you approach your TA/Prof, and what kind of information would you divulge? For example, my instructors know that I'm registered with my university's disability services and sometimes require special accommodations, but not *why*.

I guess I've never really felt comfortable talking to instructors about these things because I don't know how to be tactful about it. Figuring that out would be super helpful, because there have been times when my professors have been frustrated with my flakiness, whereas really I was struggling with a bad episode of my bipolar disorder.

[PTSD101]

Hey there Psychehedone

I'm also studying and attempting to cope with all the hurdles we overcome daily with mental health issues. Feel for and with you.

I ended up going to see an educational psych and she came up with ideas very similar to Little Lulu - I find all of them help a lot!

I live in Aussie and over here part of the assistance provided by the disability service is a standard letter that I send to all my lecturers at the start of each term. It essentially outlines my basic needs and where I may need extra assistance. I find it relieves a lot of the stress for me.

Do you know if they provide a similar service over there? If they don't, I'd be happy to provide you with the basic outline of it to give you some ideas for your own if you decide you would like to write one.

All the best with your studies mate

Originally Posted by psychehedone

Thanks Keeprolling! That's actually a great idea. How would you approach your TA/Prof, and what kind of information would you divulge? For example, my instructors know that I'm registered with my university's disability services and sometimes require special accommodations, but not *why*.

I guess I've never really felt comfortable talking to instructors about these things because I don't know how to be tactful about it. Figuring that out would be super helpful, because there have been times when my professors have been frustrated with my flakiness, whereas really I was struggling with a bad episode of my bipolar disorder.

Well you only need to divulge what you're comfortable with. Just sending a quick email saying that you are a student of the disability services and you have a visa thing that gives you special accommodations and you've been having a really tough time recently and was wondering if you could use it and etc. Setting up a meeting with them is always a good thing. I asked my contact person at the services to help me come up with proposed compromises and etc and she actually came to meet with me when I went to the professor. From there you can ask the TA/professor to talk to your teammates even though you'll talk to them too and work with your teammates on splitting up the work more to fit what's happening. Really though the first step would be to contact the disabilities services and ask if they wouldn't mind helping you send an email and make good ideas for new requirements for the class, they're really good at that sort of thing

Yeahhh. Talking to professors and TAs is always tough. I don't think I've ever said that I was depressed myself but I did mention a few of the symptoms in passing along with mentions of how hard I was trying to complete the material but it just wasn't happening. It's your medical record so you don't have to share unless your comfortable but I find it really nice to get a bit of slack from the professors during tough times.

Best of luck and keep us updated! Feel free to PM me if you have more questions

Originally Posted by PTSD101

Hey there Psychehedone

I'm also studying and attempting to cope with all the hurdles we overcome daily with mental health issues. Feel for and with you.

I ended up going to see an educational psych and she came up with ideas very similar to Little Lulu - I find all of them help a lot!

I live in Aussie and over here part of the assistance provided by the disability service is a standard letter that I send to all my lecturers at the start of each term. It essentially outlines my basic needs and where I may need extra assistance. I find it relieves a lot of the stress for me.

Do you know if they provide a similar service over there? If they don't, I'd be happy to provide you with the basic outline of it to give you some ideas for your own if you decide you would like to write one.

All the best with your studies mate

Thanks for responding! We do have a disability services office at my university that provides some basic assistance. However, I'd appreciate it if you could share a basic outline of what your document contains -- maybe that can give some ideas for me to potentially discuss with my professors. Thanks

Originally Posted by keeprolling

Well you only need to divulge what you're comfortable with. Just sending a quick email saying that you are a student of the disability services and you have a visa thing that gives you special accommodations and you've been having a really tough time recently and was wondering if you could use it and etc. Setting up a meeting with them is always a good thing. I asked my contact person at the services to help me come up with proposed compromises and etc and she actually came to meet with me when I went to the professor. From there you can ask the TA/professor to talk to your teammates even though you'll talk to them too and work with your teammates on splitting up the work more to fit what's happening. Really though the first step would be to contact the disabilities services and ask if they wouldn't mind helping you send an email and make good ideas for new requirements for the class, they're really good at that sort of thing

Yeahhh. Talking to professors and TAs is always tough. I don't think I've ever said that I was depressed myself but I did mention a few of the symptoms in passing along with mentions of how hard I was trying to complete the material but it just wasn't happening. It's your medical record so you don't have to share unless your comfortable but I find it really nice to get a bit of slack from the professors during tough times.

Best of luck and keep us updated! Feel free to PM me if you have more questions

Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it. My professors are generally helpful when I missed exams due to hospitalizations, but they were less accommodating when I was clearly showing up to class but still asking for extensions, etc. Perhaps it might help to have a doctor or contact person from disability services to add another layer of credibility, e.g. by writing a note or showing up at meetings with profs. I'll definitely PM you if I have questions. Thanks again!

[Perna]

I would talk to your partner. See if the "type" of work can be adjusted so you can do some of the "grunt" stuff (like data entry, for example) that does not take so much preparation. Let her "plan" stuff if she seems competent and you can just execute, something like that.