# How does your sa affect how well you do in school



## Jess (Oct 23, 2004)

Besides the obvious, gicving presentations, do you find your sa interferes with school in a bad way? I have heard some people say it has because its caused them depression and that has made them do worse, or others that just get anxiety about tests and stuff. are there any other ways? Do you think being nervous in class just being around all those people could make it harder to actually take in information? I just started realizing that that could be why I cant pay attention sometimes. Let me know whether it interferes or not, it would be helpful to hear about both!


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## weatherman (Apr 19, 2006)

I have done pretty badly in school because of SA and depression. I skip almost all projects involving presentations. I rarely have the motivation to do even simple homework tasks. Besides, most of the assignments are just completely ridiculous and a waste of time. And if I don't do the homework, when the teacher calls on me for an answer I can just say "I didn't do it". Then they will move on to someone else. Fortunately, in most of my classes this year, test grades are more important than homework grades so I am doing ok.


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

My SA interferes with school in other ways too. Besides presentations, class participation is nearly impossible for me so classes that require a lot of that aren't good. So far I've been able to get away with not talking in my classes, even in a class that did circle discussions (which was hard). The professors never said anything to me but if they ever do I'm gonna tell them the truth (SA). Eating in the cafeteria is also hard. I worry about people I've met asking to sit with me, and it's hard to eat in front of people, especially when trying to engage in conversation at the same time. I also get anxiety walking around the campus (all those people!). Also, it's hard to ask the professors if I don't understand something, so I either just assume things or ask someone else. And yea, being around people, especially in group work, makes it hard to concentrate on the work. If we're all reading something, I can never finish reading because the anxiety slows me down, and I'm too embaressed to ask people to wait for me. School also causes me depression sometimes. Like hearing people talk about their friends, jobs, lives, makes me feel like a loser because I've never experienced a lot of the stuff they talk about due to SA. So it's hard to relate to other people my age. So yea, SA has interfered in a lot of areas.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

My SA caused me to drop out of college.


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## gottagetthrough (Jan 25, 2004)

Definitely affects my grades. I can't focus as much as I want to in class because I'm always self-conscious. I also don't ask questions when I want to and don't make use of office hours because of SA. With that said, I'm doing fine but I could be doing better if it weren't for SA thats for sure.


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

My anxiety has not affected my grades.


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## ott (Aug 2, 2005)

My grades have suffered due to an inability to concentrate on my studies.


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## Kokeshi (May 22, 2006)

My grades have suffered when a percentage of my grade depended on seminar participation. But apart from that I think I've done pretty well considering I suffer from anxiety. Apart from last semester maybe...


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

My anxiety improved my grades. I have no social life, so was just able to concentrate on school. Luckily I never had to do a presentation after high school.


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## sonya99 (Sep 5, 2005)

I think perhaps as a kid my anxiety actually helped me do better in it, because I was scared to death of making a mistake. So payed lots of attention to everything the teacher did, and I took assignments very seriously.

But that was way back when. Of course it affects how I do in school negatively. Lots of ways:

skipping presentations
not asking the teacher any questions ever
rarely talking to my peers
sitting in the back of huge lecture halls and sometimes not being able to see
sometimes skipping class
being scared of writing papers for fear the teacher will think i'm stupid

nevertheless, I get by. I'd say a lot of why my marks aren't as good as they could be is just because i'm lazy and I procrastinate, and I'm pessimistic about everything.


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## Chris435435 (Nov 6, 2005)

I'd say it depends on your major. If you are science major, you will probably "benefit" from social anxiety. As long as you show up and do the work, you're good to go. If you're majoring in the arts like fine arts, then it definitely hurts. If you're majoring in something like communications, good luck with that.


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

Chris435435 said:


> I'd say it depends on your major. If you are science major, you will probably "benefit" from social anxiety.


I was a science major. The only tough thing was doing lab work because we had to partner up.


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## ColdFury (Nov 6, 2003)

Gave me plenty of free time to study and do work.


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## Mads (May 8, 2006)

Zephyr said:


> My anxiety improved my grades. I have no social life, so was just able to concentrate on school. Luckily I never had to do a presentation after high school.


Same for me. Studying gives me something to focus on, which I like. Otherwise I'd just sit around all the time due to my SA.

Of course I have anxiety about presentations and group work and whatever, but that doesn't really impact my grades negatively.


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## 30103 (Jan 17, 2004)

The main way anxiety affects my school is it keeps me from talking to professors outside of class.


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## Nathun (Aug 25, 2005)

The biggest problem I have is not asking for help when I need it (which is pretty much always). As a result I end up completing work incorrectly or failing to even complete it because I didn't understand something. I find it extremely hard to talk to teachers.


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## zelig (Apr 15, 2005)

Yes, when my SA is really bad I can't go to class at all (which is REALLY bad). I'll even miss tests etc.


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## orpheus (Nov 16, 2003)

I think it can be good and bad. Good in that it gives you more free time to do homework, but bad because often times you're too mired in depression to study and too anxious to be in class.


my last semester in college we had a 'in class-group final' woth 30% of the final grade. we were also to turn in a paper assignment on that same day. I ended up flaking at the last minute because i got so nervous. I just sat in the parking lot hyperventilating. So I went from an A- to a D+.

I really blame myself though.


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## Vade (Mar 11, 2006)

My S.A. has caused me to go through depression, which causes me to not do some of my assigned college readings; thus, I tend to do poorer come exam time than others. Since taking medication, however, I'm feeling better, so I plan to do much better in the coming terms.


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## estrella (Jan 7, 2006)

Contrary to most people on these boards, SA has probably helped me to exel in school. Since I rarely asked teachers, parents, or other kids for help I just figured it out on my own. It may have taken longer, but I learned WAY more than I would have if someone else had just told me the answer or tried to explain it. Also, when people underestimate me because of SA it makes me want to try harder just to prove them wrong.


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## Qolselanu (Feb 15, 2006)

Sa affected me pretty bad school-wise. I'm never ask for help and when I get home I have all the time in the world, but I get depressed so I just go on my computer or sleep rather than study and do homework.


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## LoveThySelf (May 19, 2006)

It hasnt effected my grades, but its effected my enjoyment of school.

* I cant ask questions in class
* Begining of the year introductions kill me
* I have to sit in the same spot that I have predetermined is "safe"
* I constantly dread being called on
* I am scared to ask for help
* I cant come into class late or leave (for bathroom,etc.) unless I am right next to the door.


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## TheContrary (May 2, 2006)

i tend to panic about most things including my uni work. im afraid what i do won't be good enough and in the past this has prevented me from even begining tasks. i tend to worry through most processes as im so afraid of failing. thats not SA though is it? what would u call that? avoident personality disorder?


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## VelvetElvis (Apr 29, 2006)

I ended up missing a bunch of classes, which is partially why I'm going on leave, moving back to my hometown, and going to community college while working. I was never my momma's smart child.


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## nairam (Jun 9, 2006)

i really have a hard time talking in front of the class and i don't depend on getting any grade from class participations, that's why as much as possible i make sure that my attendance is complete the whole semester, i did all my homeworks or any paper works and on written exams i try my best to get high grades, just to make up with my very poor recitation in class...


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## lil-nikki (Jun 22, 2006)

It has affected by grades because I refused to do the oral in my English course.

Also I am so concerned on how I am being perceived that I don't concentrate, so miss a lot of things we are being taught.


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## pokey (Dec 18, 2005)

SA never affected my grades until I had to actually socialize with people and do a lot of presentations. before when I didn't have friends in class and do no presentations- I was ok I guess. I would go to class and do my thing. maybe I'd say a couple of words to people but it wasn't expected that I talk to "Friends" all the time. which is odd I guess, because you might think that having "friends" in a class would make it easier, but it made it harder for me knowing that I'd have to talk to them.


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## deoxygenated (Nov 10, 2003)

I'm trying my best to do well in school, but no matter how hard I try, I'm still doing poorly. My grades don't reflect the effort I've put in. I can never meet their expectation to be good student clinician. I'm trying to think more positively, but there's no positive reinforcement at all

I'm such a failure


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## tropicalsq744 (May 15, 2006)

My studies suffered becos i kinda lost interest in what i was studying.. I was too shy to ask for help from my friends too. So i kept accumulating all the stuff i didnt understand till the exams and didnt do well at all.


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## whiterabbit (Jan 20, 2006)

All the way through school I never asked for help when I needed it, never talked in class, skipped classes that I couldn't deal with, and made it so difficult for myself. Now I'm at university I've managed to make it through the first year but I've barely learnt anything. In the first semester when seminars weren't compulsory I didn't go to them. Then in the second semester when they were compulsory I went but I couldn't participate at all. I couldn't even concentrate on what was being said because I was so terrified that I might be asked to speak. I've got massive concentration problems as well, whether that's due to SA or depression I don't know, but I hardly take anything in in lectures, and I find it really hard to do the reading. 

So yeah, it's affected my academic performance pretty badly. Hopefully I'll improve next year.


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## keem (Jun 23, 2006)

SA has really affected my grades. I ended up failing a few classes my first semester and being placed on academic probation because many days I was too depressed/anxious to even go to class. If I was even a few minutes late I just skipped because I hated walking into the classroom late and having everybody stare at me as I tried to find a seat. I had trouble taking notes in class if a lot of people were sitting around me. I never asked for help so I struggled a lot and never really understood a lot of things in my classes, which led to failing tests. I just stopped going to one class where the professor liked to randomly call on people because I would get panic attacks when he called on me. :hide 

I never made any friends, sat alone all day not talking to anyone, and it was a horrible experience. But in the fall I'm going to the health clinic on campus and see if I can do something about my SA, or I'll never be able to finish school.


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## blacktiger63 (Jul 21, 2006)

I find my SA wrecking havoc on my studies. I find it pretty weird though. I can give a presentation to alot of people I don't know, but when it comes down to talking to people who knows me, my SA kicks in.

Because of my SA, my grades have suffered. I am always afraid to ask my teachers about stuff I don't know. Well, I could do ALOT better in school social and academic wise without SA.


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## Sunny Day (Aug 1, 2006)

My studies have suffered because if I did not understand a lecture or something, I was too nervous to approach the prof to ask questions.
Also, I would always try to get into the large lecture halls for any class I could. If I was in a smaller class or 30-40 people, I was nervous that I would be called on. Then I would be so nervous that I could not focus on the material being discussed. I just wanted the class to be over so I could get back to my safety zone.

I am hoping that if I go back to school, I will do better due to my knowlege of SA. I did not know what my problem was 7 years ago. Just thought I was shy and could not try to overcome that.

I did not know why my heart rate would go up, I would have sweaty palms, and not want to eat.
I guess I thought that was me.


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