Can't work and have a problem staying at Uni!

[Sigga Lena]

Hi

So I've had a few jobs over the past years, but haven't been able to stay in any of them due to extreme anxiety. Now a similar thing is happening, except now, it's school.
This is my first semester at a university, and I can no longer attend classes. I just stay at home feeling miserable and on the worst days, I injure myself. I have a constant pain in my stomach and sometimes I feel so sick I feel like I'm going to throw up.
Staying at home may come off as me being lazy, but I genuinely cannot go. I hate it there- the chaos, the people, the noise, sitting in a classroom for so long, etc. It's my idea of hell.
A similar thing happens when I have a job; I get meltdowns and one time it was so bad that I left my workplace (a hotel) and caused a massive chaos which resulted in the guests having to wait hours for their rooms.
I just can't seem to do it!

Anyone else here like this? Do you have any tips?

 

[superboyian]

Hi

So I've had a few jobs over the past years, but haven't been able to stay in any of them due to extreme anxiety. Now a similar thing is happening, except now, it's school.
This is my first semester at a university, and I can no longer attend classes. I just stay at home feeling miserable and on the worst days, I injure myself. I have a constant pain in my stomach and sometimes I feel so sick I feel like I'm going to throw up.
Staying at home may come off as me being lazy, but I genuinely cannot go. I hate it there- the chaos, the people, the noise, sitting in a classroom for so long, etc. It's my idea of hell.
A similar thing happens when I have a job; I get meltdowns and one time it was so bad that I left my workplace (a hotel) and caused a massive chaos which resulted in the guests having to wait hours for their rooms.
I just can't seem to do it!

Anyone else here like this? Do you have any tips?

Everything you've just said sounds like how I am, especially towards the ending part sounds like what happens to me. I found myself recently taking 2 weeks off work because of it.

Normally what I find myself doing is trying to take it as easy as possible by taking a couple of deep breaths before I start. If you do get mini breaks, try and get some mini breaks also to clear out your mind a little?

Writing down a bunch of thoughts also helps too or just things that are on your mind or just drown yourself in music? Which I tend to do quite a bit.

 

[Guppyfry]

You should look into on-line university degrees - so many different universities offer these now. Much more ASpie-friendly.

I konw for work, I would not be able to function in a noisy, busy, chaotic environment where I'd have to interact with people all day. I've been working in Helicopter Maintenance tracking/planning/Technical records where I pretty much mostly work in my office, on my own, with limited interaction with others - I specifically looked for this kind of work, building on past work experiences (was in the navy/air force - had to leave because of undiagnosed Asperger's related burn-out.).

Also do seek help for the extreme anxiety and self-harm. There is no shame in getting help when one is struggling this much. Medications now-a-days for anxiety/depression are much improved from what was available to me 30 years ago. It does take some trial and error to find the right dose of the right kind of medication, but it is important that you get some relief from this type of harmful and debilitating anxiety.

 

[Judge]

All the "collateral noise" of a classroom. Looking back, I don't know how I made it.

Such things have always made it very difficult for me to concentrate. Small wonder that to truly learn something, I couldn't necessarily do it in real-time in the classroom, but later in the privacy of my room without all the distractions.

 

[Katherine Rawstron]

Yes, a correspondence or online course could be the answer for getting your degree.
As for work, have you tried/thought of working from home? Some employers allow people to work from home, or you could look into options such as proofreading, especially if attention to detail is one of your strengths.
If you're worried about becoming a recluse, you could still attend weekly evening classes, or do some sort of voluntary work which suits you; there's so much of it available these days. If there's a dogs' home near you, they might need people to walk the dogs, which would give you fresh air and exercise, and you would meet a few people, but not too many at a time. Just a thought.

 

[flynn_gabriel]

I barely graduated from H.S., so no since in wasting money on collage. Most of the jobs I've had have been where I work by myself(in a different part of the warehouse or area etc)for someone else, or have worked for myself. I have a hard time with large groups or crowds of people.
I deliver newspapers, 6 nights a week. I do single copy, which means I drop in bulk to stores and boxes. I do 4 routes. Two routes 5 nights a week. The other 2, 1 night a week. I work for someone BUT I know what I need to do, they leave me alone. I don't even hear from the boss unless I screwed the paperwork up. My check is always waiting for me at the "shed". The company I work for sub contracts through the newspapers. Theres 5 of us that work for this company, so if I need a few days off routes can get shifted so someone will cover for me. were all cross trained to do all routes. They know about my A.S., they don't care as long as I get my job done.
I also buy, sell, repair and part out cars(helpful in the newspapers delivery business).
Long story short, try online classes, limit your exposure to other people and you should be ok