Fluffy_Kittens*.*
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- Jun 14, 2018
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Hey everyone, I'm a D2 student, and I'm wondering if any of you have advice/similar experiences. Basically I find the people in my class to be competitive and not very understanding of each other's struggles with mental health.
For example, I confided in a classmate that I used to speak to frequently and whom I considered my friend that I was going through a rough period of anxiety during midterms last semester, and her response was to dismissively tell me to "chill", and she stopped initiating conversations with me after that, and now it seems that even if I talk to to her about unrelated/mundane things, she only replies very coldly. This is just one of many examples of the general attitude people seem to have with regards to mental health, and this dismissiveness seems to extend to the administration and school policies as well, according to the experiences of upperclassmen.
I'm starting to think that people judge me based on the fact that I seem determined to do well (because I take lots of notes) and that I sometimes ask questions in class, which is generally frowned on (one girl laughed in my face when I asked a question in class and commented that I'm really annoying. I've stopped asking so many questions in class and have resorted to seeing profs during office hours instead if necessary, to avoid the dirty looks/comments). I've learned to keep my mouth shut and smile. This has gone as far as my avoiding commenting or posting (questions, notes, or comments) on my class' social media groups so I am not perceived as annoying.
The truth is that everyone works their ass off in dental school (I'm talking all-nighters 2 nights a week and 3 AM nights the rest of the time), but they like to put on a "chill" façade for some reason, and I think it might bother people when others admit that it's stressful. When I ask people in the years above me how they have coped with the stress, they basically told me it's bad to stress now because "the program only gets crazier with time".
As for the competitive aspect, I came to realize that it's important to have a few very close friends because people don't like to share notes with each other (there have been a couple of instances where I've asked people for notes and shared mine with them, and they've openly lied about not having any). I feel pretty lonely in my program sometimes, and although I am friends with people in the years above me and am kind to everyone in my cohort, I would love to have a few real, reliable friends in my own class whom I can trust for social support and share notes with.
I enjoy learning about Dentistry, and I am excited to have a career in this field but I would love some advice on how to deal with this kind of negative attitude from my classmates and how to make lasting friendships or at least come to terms with the fact that people are this way and find ways to overcome the extreme stress & the feelings brought on by people's judgement.
For example, I confided in a classmate that I used to speak to frequently and whom I considered my friend that I was going through a rough period of anxiety during midterms last semester, and her response was to dismissively tell me to "chill", and she stopped initiating conversations with me after that, and now it seems that even if I talk to to her about unrelated/mundane things, she only replies very coldly. This is just one of many examples of the general attitude people seem to have with regards to mental health, and this dismissiveness seems to extend to the administration and school policies as well, according to the experiences of upperclassmen.
I'm starting to think that people judge me based on the fact that I seem determined to do well (because I take lots of notes) and that I sometimes ask questions in class, which is generally frowned on (one girl laughed in my face when I asked a question in class and commented that I'm really annoying. I've stopped asking so many questions in class and have resorted to seeing profs during office hours instead if necessary, to avoid the dirty looks/comments). I've learned to keep my mouth shut and smile. This has gone as far as my avoiding commenting or posting (questions, notes, or comments) on my class' social media groups so I am not perceived as annoying.
The truth is that everyone works their ass off in dental school (I'm talking all-nighters 2 nights a week and 3 AM nights the rest of the time), but they like to put on a "chill" façade for some reason, and I think it might bother people when others admit that it's stressful. When I ask people in the years above me how they have coped with the stress, they basically told me it's bad to stress now because "the program only gets crazier with time".
As for the competitive aspect, I came to realize that it's important to have a few very close friends because people don't like to share notes with each other (there have been a couple of instances where I've asked people for notes and shared mine with them, and they've openly lied about not having any). I feel pretty lonely in my program sometimes, and although I am friends with people in the years above me and am kind to everyone in my cohort, I would love to have a few real, reliable friends in my own class whom I can trust for social support and share notes with.
I enjoy learning about Dentistry, and I am excited to have a career in this field but I would love some advice on how to deal with this kind of negative attitude from my classmates and how to make lasting friendships or at least come to terms with the fact that people are this way and find ways to overcome the extreme stress & the feelings brought on by people's judgement.