Why do I get severely depressed and anxious early in the school year?
Severe anxiety and depression often hit hard around the fourth or fifth week of school, bringing on a sudden chemical imbalance despite prior preventive measures. This intense crash leaves teachers feeling overwhelmed and scrambling to figure out why their mental health is plummeting so early in the term.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1taking medicationDid this help you?
- 2walkingDid this help you?
- 3restingDid this help you?
- 4leaving work on timeDid this help you?
- 5Talking to a mentor teacherDid this help you?
- 6Looking into a therapist for coping strategiesDid this help you?
- 7Finding the little joys and doing what you want within reasonDid this help you?
- 8Sprinkling in a day off when neededDid this help you?
- 9Networking with other teachersDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Is it normal to have intense anxiety not only on school days, but on weekends as well? Yesterday while grocery shopping I had a break down thinking about my job.”source ↗
“I feel you. I can literally feel the chemical imbalance coming on… yeah I just need to get on meds.”source ↗
“This year, I am now at about my fourth or fifth week of school and I am extremely anxious and severely depressed. Does this happen to anyone else? How can I be crashing so hard?”source ↗
“I have the Sunday Dreads every weekend. I have anxiety when I wake up each weekday morning that is making it hard to go to work.”source ↗
“I'm starting week 5 but 2 weeks ago I had the first panic attack of my life in the grocery store.”source ↗
“Teachers with anxiety and depression do you feel more anxious during the start of the year? Also have you ever felt you needed to increase your med dose during school year?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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