I have been dealing with moderate depression and anxiety for several years before I ever started preparing for the LSAT. My symptoms began during my senior year of high school, and over the years they have improved with long-term medication. I am generally able to manage my daily life now, but I still experience periods when stress becomes overwhelming. During occasional preparing days, I experience intense anxiety symptoms, such as a very fast and persistent heartbeat and trouble concentrating. I also have long-standing sleep problems, which may contribute to some of these symptoms. Outside of studying, I try to maintain my mental health through activities that help me recover emotionally, such as attending concerts, watching films, and going to live shows. I’m curious whether anyone here has gone through something similar. How do you handle daily anxiety and depression? I would really appreciate hearing about your experiences and any strategies. Thank you.
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Felt this. On meds for my anxiety and the thing that helped was making lsat studying feel fun. Either motivating myself with treats or a fun thing for doing sections/drills or by playing the lsat games on here. Basically anything that makes studying feel less daunting is key. Now this is gonna be the hard thing to wrap your head around: at the end of the day the score you get is gonna be the score you get. Make it less about needing a specific score and more about seeing how much you can improve. Focus on rewarding yourself for the progress you're making rather than this idea that you have to get a specific score or else. That "or else" mentality is going to make studying that much harder because this test really does require you to be confident in your abilities. It's hard to do (I struggle with it myself) but you have other parts of your application that are just as important so don't stress too much about this one part.
I have the same problem. Pretty much every time I get done studying, I feel completely despondent for hours. When I do exceptionally well my only feeling is relief that is gradually overtaken by dreading the next section or PT that will bring me back to very deep depression. I scored 5-8 points lower than usual on a PT last week and was so upset I took a day off work because I could not concentrate. I have had depression all my life and got great results with trans-cranial stimulation therapy that was one-and-done a few years ago. But every time I study this test, I am back to being miserable, overwhelmed, and at a loss for why life is worth living. I need to get this test done, I need to get a good score, and time is running out for me to do something meaningful with my life. I want to take a break, but no break improves how I feel when I study and I just stress about the time I am wasting. I don't know what to do. It feel like this test is designed to rob me of my happiness.
@CvrJdr104 Thank you so much for sharing!! I felt exactly the same. I seem to go about my studies calmly every day, but actually I feel extremely tormented and sad inside. Just as you put it, life feels so unworthy of being lived. I too want to rest, but I cannot allow myself to do so, because the anxiety of fearing that time is slipping away will completely overwhelm me. As a result, there is not a single day I spend studying that brings me any joy. I am in extreme misery, yet I am forced to go through it all for various reasons. The only ways I can cope are by taking medication year-round to keep my emotions stable and going out for fun on weekends. But no matter how much I rest, I can never truly dispel the deep pain of just getting through each day.
Same boat. Getting on meds helped me a ton. I also exercise at least 3x per week, and try to spend time with friends as much as possible. Worrying about just the next thing I have to do has helped tamp down on anxiety as well. Focusing on moving my body to do the next task, and not about the whole system of tasks, has helped with my consistency and volume of work in most cases.
I have chronic anxiety. Honestly, my ADHD medication has been helping a lot. I was diagnosed a few months ago and have been on medication. I will also apply for accommodation. Drilling with additional time has been helping me keep my anxiety in check. Talk to your doctor as soon as you can, get medication/therapy, and apply for accommodation. Good luck!
@MnM My anxiety is not severe enough for me to apply for accommodation since it occasionally happens and doesn't necessarily affect daily practice. Anyway thank you for your advice!!