Does school make your depression worse?

[YoungK9]

I know a few people here are homeschooled. For everybody that goes to school, does it make worse, or better?

It sure does for me!

It's why I start getting depressed,& what caused me to start Self Harming.

[Rivière]

In my personal opinion it depends on the individual. A person who is bullied a lot at school, it will only create or enhance their depression whereas someone who's very popular at school and has a good, large circle of 'in' friends will be less likely to feel depressed. Bullying, teachers and workload is what contributes to depression with ullying being the most significant. During my time at school, I was bullied no matter which school I went to and it felt like people even in lower years than me were out to get me and because they were younger, I couldn't 'hit back' or I'd be excluded from the school and would only create further problems for my family and for myself. Once I left school, ok I was still majorly depressed, but that environment which was compulsory for me to attend was gone, new doors to new possibilities and experiences would open up for me and I felt better for leaving than I did for staying. I would never want to go back to school because of my experiences although I expect people who were with the 'in crod' of my school would say the complete opposite because they enjoyed the fun times with their friends and had a great social life.

[Forging Galaxies]

Well, in college now. I had an urge to suicide so I'm gonna *uc* my education again and get bad results unless something good happens.

[Doodle.]

School made me MUCH worse. School is actually what made me depressed but that was due to bullying. I'm in college now and I'm fine there.

[Not_here]

it definitely had an influence, now that I'm in college though it's kinda different but it still is there.

[MegaMadness]

Yep school made everything worse. It was awful and sooo stressful and ugh.

[mindflower]

It definitely depends on the person. Maybe for some, and this is just me rambling hypothetically, but lets say their depression is triggered at home. School can be an escape for them. Others, like me, being at school can make it worse, my self harm urges might not be as bad but I cry a lot at school, my stress is through the roof, and being around certain people just makes things... hard on me. I guess, yeah. So school makes mine worse.

[Twinge]

When I'm in school, it feels like watching the world inside out.
So yeah, it's a bit worse. It makes me realize some things about me I'm attempting my best to avoid.
Also, the pointless classes take away my time that could be used on better, more useful things. And I tend to over-think that part.

[ElsatheDepressionSlayer]

School is what triggered my depression in the first place, and it made things way worse. At my school, there was so much pressure to excel and do everything perfectly. I was stressed all the time, and it made things so much worse for me. Thankfully, I survived high school, and now I'm taking a gap year so I can recover and not have school in my life right now.

[Catharsis.]

Definitely. And a lot worse at that. Firstly, there's the social pressures. I was bullied for years, and still am to a lesser extent. I suffer from severe social anxiety, and often spend lunch in the bathroom. And then there's schoolwork itself. I love learning, don't get me wrong here. However, I'm under immense expectations, especially from myself, because 1) I get high grades, and 2) school is all I'm really good at. When I feel down, I find it hard to function and focus on my work. This leads to a vicious cycle, because I fall behind in my work, making me more depressed when it piles up. I also begin to feel incapable, that there's no hope of me doing well in my exams, and I feel hopeless. My worst mental crashes usually come around exam time, and in the winter.

[Eternal Dreamer ♥]

While I was in school, I did feel more depressed while I was there. I felt a little better while I wasn't there, or when I was outside of the school.

[Symphony.]

Definitely. It makes things a lot worse for me.

[eckky]

Well it makes me alot worse I tried to killed myself in school sorry if that's to much but yeah schools alot worse in my case

[Forging Galaxies]

Sorry, I was in a bad mood when I replied.
Education had made me far more worse than I wanted to imagine, I'm not even the same, kind-hearted person I was last week now. I just want to die if I'm going to be a cold, brutal and ruthless person I'm becoming.

[hocus pocus]

I'm homeschooled now, and have been for about a year. But back to when I was at school..

In elementary school, it wasn't too bad at first. I was a happy kid to a certain extent. But the more we moved, the more I began to hate school as I was always the new kid. I started getting bullied more often. School gave me this terrible feeling that I couldn't get anywhere else. Sitting in that classroom, the quiet kid in the back, feeling so powerless. I couldn't get up and move or just walk away from things if I needed to. During the last few years of school, I spent most of my time skipping classes and getting friends to lie to cover my ass. I brought a blade to school and kept it right in my pocket. I had even hurt myself in class a few times. Those were some of the darkest days; I even thought about how I'd kill myself in the school bathrooms. Sorry, this was long.

[Azure.]

Yes. It stresses me out even more and makes the days last too long. It makes me even more tired than normal. The only thing that helps is going to sports practices. There I am away from school and home, which makes things a little better.

[Ennui.]

I'm not diagnosed with depression or anything yet but I know that school is a huge trigger for me that causes me to SH more, my anxiety rises, and I just am miserable.

Hey there,

I think it all depends on the person. I think that for some people school can be a huge trigger and for other people it isn't so much of a trigger. I know that personally I am a perfectionist and due to that school is a huge trigger because I am always stressing about getting the best grades possible. I can be getting a decent grade in the class but I will still stress because I am worried that I won't be able to keep that grade. I know that there are other people who have to worry about being bullied and stuff like that as well. However, I think there are some people who find school to be a release because they get to be around friends and they get to participate in clubs and all of that. If you find school to be a big stressor why don't you try reaching out to a teacher or counselor about it and see if they could provide you with some type of help? I know that might be hard to do but if you were able to talk to someone about this they might be able to provide you with some support and advice and help you work on getting to a better place.

[Ghost On The Highway]

School itself generally does not make my depression worse, unless I'm failing my classes or something. In general my brain appreciates the extra intellectual stimulation. It's the *people* at school that make things worse. In high school it was just that I disliked most of them and felt separated in terms of interests, popularity, etc. In college it's more that relationships tend not to progress beyond acquaintanceship, at least for me.

[Beautiful Disaster]

It's totally down to the individual, as others have said. Tay said it perfectly - I think it depends largely on the cause of your depression in the first place, the type of school you go to and the sort of person you are.

For me it's a bit more complicated, I've been depressed as long as I remember and mainly due to things outside of school, so school seemed a safe-ish place. Secondary school was a definite trigger for my depression and I self harmed in school a fair bit. Friendships were difficult and I was quite bright so there was pressure to succeed etc. But at the same time, I knew the teachers, knew the place and I knew certain people couldn't hurt me there. Then I moved on to sixth form (college/A-levels) and had amazing friendship groups, good teachers and I enjoyed the subjects I was doing much more. I think sixth form highlighted some symptoms of depression for me but I think it more helped, rather than hindered.

[Lumos.]

For me, it definitely makes it worse. Mostly because I feel more alone there(its sorta ironic feeling more alone with over a thousand people at my school, than being alone at home), and i feel like i'm being judged by others. Unless its at the GSA meeting at my school i feel horrible at school.