When Anxiety and Academics Mix: Over-achieving vs Under-achieving
This is my first time posting here, considering I made my account yesterday, I think. I wanted to open up a discussion about anxiety and academics, and how others may cope with having anxiety in school and all that. I think it'd be a nice way to open up some perspective a bit. Personally, I always had two main 'safe' actions or general coping mechanisms when I was anxious/felt unsafe at home, which was cleaning around the house, or homework. Because I always saw academics as a 'safe' action (by this I mean, if I got caught doing it at a tense moment, then I wouldn't 'get-in-trouble'), it's led me to become an overachiever in my classes and separated me a bit from my peers in that they can think I'm intimidating at times. ^^; But because of this methodology, I often get side-tracked when working, procrastinate a lot, only work well when I have the adrenaline of a deadline, and cause myself to work so hard I get burnout and physical exhaustion. I've also had a fair share of Imposter Syndrome when I look back on my previous work and compare it to my current, barely-finished work (which, yes, is unfair to myself, but I can't help it). Anyway, I'm wildly successful in my academic career, but there are drawbacks as I've described, which can cripple me if I think about them for too long. I guess I'm posting this for the people that can relate, or even the people who have problems with under-achieving (y'know, for perspective). Feel free to reply to this with your experience, and maybe we can share tips on how to take a step back from anxiety and look at what's really there. :)
You bring up a good point about all of this. It sounds that that schooling has been a way to cope as you mentioned but it also seems that has become a burnout. Sometimes the way I cope to make it more manageable schooling is hanging out with friends well studying so that I don't burn out too much. What are some things you do with others well studying?