Anxiety and Motivation

auxcordpapi

Good evening fellow 7Sagers,

I am someone who suffers from anxiety and depression on a daily basis. For anyone that can relate, how would you go about improving on this exam? I find that although I know exactly what career path I want to be on and what needs to be accomplished in order to do so, I still find trouble being motivated to study, and when I do study I find myself constantly zoning out. I've been studying for several months, including taking a Blueprint course in a classroom setting which ended in September. However, I cannot seem to break low 150's on my PT's. My highest score is a 154 and that was only because I did not time myself and wound up finishing at least an hour over the typical exam time constraints. Otherwise, my average timed scores do not look as pretty. I do not believe 7Sage is the issue as I find the methods of this curriculum far clearer than anything else I've done in the past. I did some research and found that LSAC has accommodated those in the past with diagnosed depression/generalized anxiety, although not everyone's requests are approved. I have not taken medication for this in about three years because I felt it was doing more harm than good. That being said, I do not think LSAC would simply take my word for my issues and at the same time I also would not want to have schools look down upon my grade because they knew I was accommodated. I am currently aiming for the June 2017 LSAT, but if my PT's do not improve by then, I do not want to wait much longer. Perhaps September.. but nothing later than that as I truly want to begin law school by 2018. I know what school I want to go to and have everything planned out. I graduated cum laude and was in the honors academy all four years at my school and even graduated a semester early. It makes no sense to me how all that was accomplished yet I am having so much trouble with this one exam, which drives my motivation even further down.

Long story short, if anyone is out there with advice on something like this, I would really appreciate some personal insight as no one seems to understand.

Thank you

JustDoIt

Hey!

Let me begin by saying I am sorry for what you are going through. I have a cousin who is currently going through something similar and I can't imagine how difficult it is. I do think that it is great that you have not let your condition determine your future so far.

With that said, don't let your condition determine your future. You did great as an undergrad, and those are achievements that are very difficult to achieve and probably even more so for you. So keep your head up, give yourself a pat on the back, and have some cookies and ice cream tonight while watching Netflix. You earned it! I am not going to say that I know exactly what you're going through, because I don't. But I will say I know what it feels like to work your butt off and to get nowhere. I know what it is like to have no motivation. I know what it is like to have this test affect you personally and your relationships. But don't let it. Easier said than done? Absolutely. But I promise if you adopt the mindset that you control this test and that it doesn't control you, you will feel much better, while taking tests, while studying, and while you are not. Why do you think that most people on this forum advocate for skipping questions and then coming back to them? Because you are in control at that point, which consistently leads to better results.

Don't give up if this really is your dream. I started studying in May of 2014 with a 134 diagnostic. I wanted start law school in 2015, which turned into 2016, which turned into 2017, which may turn into 2018. Do I really care? No, not really. Sure I think about it sometimes. Point being, don't put a deadline on achieving your goals. When you want something so bad that you'll be damned if a stupid test is going to hold you back, you have no choice but to move forward. And I hope you will do the same.

I hope this helps, at least a little bit. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or if there is anything I can do

auxcordpapi

@JustDoIt Thank you for taking the time to respond to this post. It definitely helps at least somewhat that there are people out there that are understanding. I know I should not be making such hard deadlines for myself but I just don't have the patience to delay my career any longer than graduating from law school as late as 2021 if I were to begin in 2018 which is the path I've tried to set for myself. My first diagnostic was a 140 but aside from times I've not timed myself I cannot seem to break the 140's at all. I feel as though if it weren't for my consistent zoning out and not being able to finish RC passages and long LR questions on time due to that without having to re-read, I'd be doing a lot better. I've also come to the realization that I'm going to have no choice but to skip what seems like the hardest RC passage and logic game because I straight up cannot finish all 4 of them in the amount of time alotted to us.

JustDoIt

@auxcordpapi Hope you had a great Holiday! I understand. Someone on these forums told me once that if you can delay the gratification, it will taste so much sweeter. I am not sure what your career plans are but I can tell you that the better that you get at this test and the more time that you put in, the higher the reward on the back end, whether it is in scholarship money or career opportunities. I know that this is taking me longer than most, and it is not something I am exactly proud of. But literally the thought of me settling on my dreams keeps me up at night. I am not saying that this is true for everyone. But I am saying even if you delay past 2018, it is okay. I promise. It will be so worth it in the end, even if it is an extra year or two.

I remember the times that I couldn't finish all four passages and I would rush through three of them to get to the fourth which is the most difficult one, meaning that it wasn't even worth it. But what really helped me is drilling over and over again. Then when I didn't want to, I would do four more passages. And then make RC my experimental. And set little goals along the way. "Okay I am going to do this passage and questions in 10 minutes. Okay now I can do this in 9 minutes. 8. Oh I've done this one before, 7 minutes." Settling little goals like this seems like it doesn't seem like much. But when you form good habits of your own process, you get into a rhythm that feels natural.

Creasey LSAT

@auxcordpapi said:
I also would not want to have schools look down upon my grade because they knew I was accommodated.

Thankfully, LSAC cannot report that a test was taken with accommodations anymore.

@auxcordpapi said:
I am someone who suffers from anxiety and depression on a daily basis.

I am not qualified to give medical recommendations, but, as someone who suffers from the same conditions, I have found a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and medication to be extremely helpful. I also exercise 3-4 times per week. Nothing too crazy, but it's essential for me to do this in order to keep my mood elevated.

Aidoe

Saying we have anxiety and depression is more often than not a dramatic way of saying we're apprehensive and dejected about things. In fact it's worse because it's vague and obscure and gives us the idea that our situation is hopeless.

Answer yourself, what exactly are you apprehensive about? We're all apprehensive about taking a test that will, we presume, have a significant outcome on our professional lives. Ok, but how does being worried about that do anything to solve the problem? Realizing it's useless won't necessarily make you less apprehensive, but at least it will tell you that you're tripping over yourself.

Answer yourself, what exactly are you dejected about? We're all dejected about the score we currently have because it's not up to par with what we need. Ok, but how does being dejected do anything to solve the problem? Again, this tells you that you're worried about the wrong thing.

Be extremely honest with yourself. Ruthlessly confront your issues before you risk going through halfheartedly (and miserably) the remainder of your studies. That means noticing all the emotional baggage you attach to a set of 101 questions that are not only irrelevant and unnecessary, but completely detrimental to your success. I recommend writing out your thoughts and feelings so that way they don't have the luxury of being vague and obscure.

These issues will creep and slow you down when you're in the thick of the fight, but if they're identified for what they are at the outset, then your path will be made easier as you divert your attention to what needs to be done: good old-fashioned learning (and in a field of your preference, no less!). What's so depressing about that?

teamteamvicster

Hey! I have GAD, too! Shout out to destigmatizing mental health issues. While I don't have depression, I can comment on how I handled my anxiety for test day. I work out every day (rock climbing). I love climbing because it is a great physical activity, and it stimulates my mind. Every challenge on the boulder requires me to think about my sequencing and how to reach the top with my body type (short, small person!). I take my daily anxiety meds but didn't take my big one (klonopin) because I didn't want it to mess with my mind. I find that I'm like a zombie with it.
Meditation never really helped, but I do things like yoga occasionally.
A good piece of advice I got before going into the test was to put my pencil down between sections and to separate my emotions from my mind. I took the 15 seconds to breathe. RC was my first section on PT84, and I was definitely not ready. I felt like I bombed it. Going into the LR, I told myself to bank points. To get one question right. Then the next one and the next one. We will see what happens score-wise in a few weeks, but I felt a lot better this go around. It felt like taking another PT. Having a procedure for each question type and strategy helped me to stay focused.

Edit: just realized that post is from a year ago, but I think the general sentiments still hold. Best of luck to everyone else battling anxiety. We can do it!

Hamaseh_S

@teamteamvicster said:

u da best ^^^

teamteamvicster

@Hamaseh_S said:

@teamteamvicster said:

u da best ^^^

How did your crystals work out for you?!

Hamaseh_S

@teamteamvicster said:

@Hamaseh_S said:

@teamteamvicster said:

u da best ^^^

How did your crystals work out for you?!

hahahha hopefully they did their work! I tucked one in my shirt + had my bracelet and ring I was decked out in that good crystal energy ahahha

CurlyQQQ

I got a pet to help with my anxiety. I'm not advising this as a cure for depression and anxiety but what I hope you take from this comment and all comments is that you CAN find something in order to combat these things in your way. Through trial and error find what works for you.