Quoted: Premed with anxiety and insomnia

[Doodledog]

Note that SDN is not to be used for providing or receiving medical advice. Posts that include any form of specific health care advice for the poster will not be posted. I'm sure the poster is aware that medical advice is something they should seek and follow and that exercise is good for you.

I was diagnosed with General Anxiety last year and have dealt with it my entire time in college. It still isn't under control but it's getting better. The biggest problem I have is my insomnia. I only sleep about 30min at a time then wake up to switch positions, use the bathroom, drink water, etc. everynight! This obviously is a problem since I've been doing this for years. No matter how much sleep I get I still feel like I've only gotten 2 hours of sleep. This fatigue has caused me to sleep through my alarms numerous times, fall asleep in class, and not being able to concentrate well unless I take a nap.
My question is should I mention this in my personal statement? This is something that has affected my life as well as my school work, but I don't want to make it sound like an excuse or that becuase of this I will not succeed in medical school.

My advice is that you not discuss this in your personal statement.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[franklinave]

To the person being quoted:
Humans, in general, are base creatures. If we were more enlightened we would be able to sympathize with everyone who experienced difficulty, no matter the nature of that difficulty. As it stands today, though, people only have sympathy for those who have experienced similar circumstances to their own. I'm guessing that the vast majority of admissions officers haven't had to deal with anxiety that is as crippling as yours. Therefore, bringing your condition to their attention probably won't benefit you.

With that said I have a great deal of sympathy for you and commend you for your persistence in the face of your anxiety. I myself have suffered from crippling anxiety and I have found a few things to be helpful. First, change your perspective. Ultimately, whether you become an allopathic physician, or an osteopathic physician, or no physician at all, you'll be able to survive and be happy; you just have to find something that you really enjoy doing (whether it be knitting, ballet, archaeology, roller hockey, whatever). Anxiety is essentially just fear, so if you realize that there is nothing really to fear, you'll be a lot less anxious.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

My advice to the OP is to try and get this under better control before starting medical training. Med school and especially residency are very draining experiences, often with sleep deprivation or irregular schedules. Getting your anxiety and sleep under as good control as possible will be vital towards your success. Given your description above, I expect you might find the workload, overnight call, etc very challenging.

 

[the donkey]

OP, I'm no doctor and am not trying to dish out medical advice, but i can definitely empathize with you here. I suffer from bouts of anxiety that can feel crippling at times and make me lose A LOT of sleep. There are much worse things out there, but not being able to sleep really drives me crazy. Its amazing to me how tired I can be, yet when my heads hits that pillow, my mind just starts racing. One of my problems is that I put sooo much pressure on myself. In working towards something very important to me (like becoming a physician, for instance), I tend to lose focus on the big picture; and the small battles along the way (like exams) become life or death trials. Bedtime seems to have become my brain's time and locale of choice for analyzing my every decision.

I think a little anxiety here and there is normal, but you just can't let it trap you. Like franklinave said, I've also found that stepping back and changing my perspective helps a great deal. I try to face whatever is making me anxious and really think about why it is doing so. Most of the time, after I really think about it, I realize that whatever I'm worrying so much about is actuallynot going to kill me. Talking it out with someone can be a great way of gaining another perspective, so seeking medical advice was a good move on your part. Again, I'm no doctor, but feel free to pm me if you feel the need to vent.

I agree with the above. I would not discuss this in your personal statement.

 

[DrDre311]

My advice to the OP is to try and get this under better control before starting medical training. Med school and especially residency are very draining experiences, often with sleep deprivation or irregular schedules. Getting your anxiety and sleep under as good control as possible will be vital towards your success. Given your description above, I expect you might find the workload, overnight call, etc very challenging.

You need to be well-rested to be at your best. This is more important during the basic science years because you're trying to perform well on tests and you need your brain to be sharp to retain information or regurgitate it on a test.

It's one thing if you don't actually require much sleep, but med school/residency will make you feel like you haven't slept in weeks and that pervading fatigue can be very unpleasant. People tend to look down on you for falling asleep during a case or during rounds--save your naps for lectures/conferences.

I also strongly urge you to get your condition better controlled, at least to the point where you can get a reasonable night's sleep on a regular basis, before subjecting yourself to medical training.

 

[Billybob12]

There is no possible good that could come from mentioning your condition!

"Gee, Anxiety is such a common malady to our species that I forgot to mention it. Besides, anxiety is what keeps me working. Ansiety is
fuel to me!"