It is the end of my first semester in social work grad school.
I am taking four classes, and a 16 hour a week field placement
Of which I am 40 something odd hours behind.
I started a month late, and I have caught up 20 hrs
But the extra day at my internship is killing me
So I will take an incomplete for the semester.
My first placement did not want me
Seriously
They deemed me “too sick”
I was hospitalized, a mental health inpatient
A few weeks before school started
My private psychiatrist dismissed/discharged me
Because she thought I was too sick
She wanted me to have an intensive case manager
And I was sent to the clinic….
The clinic…that my grad school paperwork said….
That I was to internship at…
So this clinic was given all of my info
But I canceled my appointment
Anyways, I had my interview
I was told the placement was “competitive”
I was hung on the line to dry for weeks
And then, over the phone
He asked if I ever made an appointment with the agency
I said yes…
“Sorry, I cannot offer you a placement”
At this point I got him to admit it was because of my medical record
I asked him what he told my school…
At this point I reminded him on the finer points of HIPAA
So now…I am interning at a fine institution
(and my doctor let me back into her practice)
A recovery focused out patient treatment center
For MICA and PTSD clients
Mostly a group focused interventions
However, it is mainly an outpatient DAY treatment Center
A partial hospitalization for the severely mentally ill
A few months ago
It was suggested to me
That I should go into day treatment
Instead of grad school
Did I make the right choice?
I have been doing well
Getting good grades
Meeting new people
Doing well at the internship
Until now….
I am overwhelmed
I have panic attacks
I think everyone hates me
My grades suck
And I am now emotionally fragile
I have an unbelievable amount of school work
(My sane classmates are going crazy)
I have started to flake out (forget to do school work)
And I am starting to feel self-destructive
Yesterday, I hid in my intern office for a while
I’ve had two patients decide they liked me
Kidnap me and lock-me-in-a-box kind of like me
From someone who has a criminal record of such
So I am thinking….
I might actually suck as an MSW
I cannot concentrate
I either sleep too much, or not enough
I feel out of control
I am feeling too sick to do this