Studying with a mental health problem
Guest blogger Chris Taylor tells about his thoughts before starting university
University has certainly been a long time in coming. From a young age, I knew that I wanted to go to uni, but things changed, circumstances changed that made it a near impossibility. I guess for that very reason I’m not anxious about starting university or even about the mental health issues that I’ve struggled with in the past reoccurring due to the stresses and strains of university life. In fact, I’m just proud at how I’ve dealt with both mental health issues and achieving the grades and work needed to reach the university that I’m attending (Durham).
In other words, I’m not looking back and worrying about issues affecting me at uni, but seeing uni as a new start, a new environment and new opportunities in life. I’m not embarrassed about the issues I’ve faced, and I’m not embarrassed about them reappearing at uni, in fact, if anyone wanted to talk to me about them, I’d be more than happy to discuss them, after all, the issues we face are what defines us and like I say, I am, at this point in time, proud of myself ergo proud of the issues I’ve faced.
In terms of relocating, I definitely see this as a new step in my life. Too much has happened around the area I currently live in for me to feel comfortable around this area anymore, it just brings up bad memories. It’s time for me to move out, and move on, after all, everyone does keep saying that ‘the world is my oyster’.
