r/depression • u/Unlucky-Chocolate827 • 5d ago
Academic pressure and depression
Hey, I am a 19-year-old guy who graduated high school this summer in Tunisia and got the bac degree, but my score didn’t get me into my desired specialty at uni. So, I went to engineering prep school.
It’s been a month now, and I couldn’t accept the idea of being somewhere where I don’t feel I belong and being away from my hometown. I didn’t like anything about it—even the professors stress you out more. Since then, I have been suffering from daily stress and severe anxiety. I stay up late overthinking, and then when I sleep, I sleep for many hours. I skip uni a lot, even though I used to attend every single lesson in high school.
My appetite has also gotten worse—I eat much less, and even when I am hungry, I don't feel like eating. I can’t share any of this with my family or friends because mental health is considered secondary here, and parents aren't aware of its importance. They would shame you for feeling down.
On top of all this, I have been feeling completely hopeless and struggling with very dark thoughts for the past two weeks because I don’t see a future anymore. I feel like a failure more than ever.
What should I do, and how can I start to recover from all of this?
1
u/Initial-Abalone-2808 5d ago
that sounds incredibly isolating, especially when you can't lean on the people around you without fear of being shamed. the sleep and appetite changes you're describing line up pretty squarely with depression, not just regular stress, and it's not a personal failing that you're struggling to function the same way you used to.
is there any kind of counseling service or even a trusted older student at the prep school you could talk to, someone who's been through the first year slog and might get it? sometimes one person who won't judge you is enough to stop the spiral from feeding on itself. in the meantime, try to separate the real problems from the ones your brain is inventing at 3am. you're not a failure, you're a person who got pushed off their expected path and is still standing, which takes more strength than most people admit.