Brain Brain

I am not trying to play the blame game, but my mental health negatively affected my academics more than I would like to admit. My academics suffered along with my mind up until the day that I was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder. I always attributed my depressive moods with the fact that I had moved away from my family to college. I was only three hours away from home, but the inability to drive and the strong bond between my family and I made it seem much farther away. I was the first in my family to venture off to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Being first generation made the transition that much harder. I began to fall behind in classes from lack of energy and motivation due to the depressing feeling of isolation. To cure the depression I was experiencing, I decided to move back home to Houston and enrolled at the University of Houston. Once classes started up I noticed I was not doing any better than I was in San Antonio. My sister suggested I get a consultation from a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist diagnosed me with major depression and prescribed me medication to help my low moods. Even after this I had episodes of severe depression that again disabled my ability to do well in school. Despite battling my mental illness I was able to pass all of my classes after long hours of studying and visits with professors and tutors. Before my last semester as an undergrad I revisited a psychiatrist to see if I could get more help. It was then that I was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder. After I started treatment for my diagnosis I was focused and motivated. In my last semester I was able to achieve a grade point average of a 3.77 while managing to pass two upper level biochemistry classes with A’s. My mental illness is not to blame for my poor grades but it is a factor that greatly affected the start of my academic career.