Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard,

I am appealing to drop the following two courses after the designated drop date: PHIL 348 and Phil 335. I experienced a relapses in major depressive disorder in and as a result, I was unable to adequately perform in these courses.

January 2015 was when I first experienced depression. As you will find detailed in my previous letter for appeal, I began experiencing severe anxiety, and depression. As a direct result I ceased leaving my house, failed to attend any class, and removed myself from as many social interactions as possible. However, in April 2015 I sought treatment with both my family doctor and a psychologist. I began taking anti depressants and having weekly therapy sessions. This treatment brought me into remission and at the end of the summer I felt confident that I could return to school. It has always been a top priority of mine to successfully complete my education. I was keen to return to Queen¿¿s and reinvest myself into my program, philosophy. With the tools I had procured through my treatment I was able to successfully complete a full course load in both the fall and winter semester. My success during the year prompted me to continue taking two courses during the summer semester. I achieved and A- and a B+ in those courses. With these academic achievements behind me I was confident that the fall of 2016 would be no different. I knew that I still suffered from anxiety, so I made sure to continue with my medication and my therapy sessions with my psychologist, both as means of managing my anxiety and depressive thoughts. I felt sure that I would be able to mange my mental health, and avoid a relapse. Never the less, in October 2016 I began experiencing the beginnings of a relapse into depression.

I believe that my relapse was triggered by three principal factors. This first was how unexpectedly I became overwhelmed by schoolwork. My anxiety began to fully resurface in response to one short assignment due in mid October. Knowing the way anxiety prevents me from completing assignments, I knew that I needed to begin early, and make a concrete plan for the essay. I was determined to succeed this year, so I did just that. I started well in advance; I made detailed notes, and a complete outline for assignment. However, when it came down to writing the final draft I was paralyzed with fear. I could not complete it despite my best efforts. My shame and panic from not submitting the assignment then prevented my from attending classes. This intense anxiety brought about avoidance behaviour, severely impaired sleeping, an overwhelming feeling of disconnectedness, intense negative and critical thoughts, and an overall sense of hopelessness. I could not attend any of my classes, complete assignments, nor could I leave my house for long stretches of time. Having experienced similar symptoms of depression before I tried to mitigate the situation. I continued with weekly, sometime bi-weekly sessions with my psychologist. I let my professors know, attempts to adjust deadlines, which they were happy to do. I visited Queen¿¿s Counselling services seeking advice. I was determined to finish complete the semester and not let my depression take over my life once again. In November as the drop date approached I realized that given the intense progression of my depression I would not be able to complete my entire course load. However, I kept two, still determined not to give up. Despite my best efforts to manage my increasing anxiety and depressive thoughts through an increase in medication and weekly sessions with my psychologists, I was unable to complete my courses. My depression completely destroyed my ability to function academically. After consulting both my family doctor and my psychologist I decided not write my final exams or finish my final papers because of the negative mental toll.

The other two factors, which I believe triggered my relapse, were my new living situation and my parents leaving the country. Firstly, this year I decided to live alone. I believed that living alone would help me to remain focused on my academics. Haven fallen behind in 2015, academic success was my utmost priority, and I wanted to avoid all possible distractions. Despite my good intentions, living alone was extremely isolating. Living alone enabled me to easily withdraw from both my academic and social life with no one noticing. The solitary element also produced sentiments of loneliness, which only fed my sense of hopelessness.

Secondly, my parents moved to London England in early September. I had previously relied on them during the past year for support whenever I had and difficulty managing my anxiety over academics. I would often go home for a weekend to recoup. However, with that option no longer available to me during this past semester I was unable to take any space from school and my anxiety. I believe that this had a much more sever impact on my ability to manage my mental health than I had initially expected. It was a combination of these three factor that caused my to unexpectedly relapse, culminating in my inability to complete school work, and eventually my inability to regularly leave my house.


School is incredibly important to me; that much has not changed through out my struggles with depression. I value my academic success more than anything and I do not want my illness to be the reason I do not succeed. Over the course of this relapse I have gained more insight into my depression and my triggers. Over the course of next semester I will continue to work with my psychologist to manage those triggers and my anxiety. I also plan to follow up with my doctor to ensure that the now increased dosage of medication I am taking is working correctly. In terms of creating an academic plan moving forward, I plan on easing my way back into the academics by taking only one or two course.

Throughout my struggle, the one thing that I still know to be true is that I have a deep desire to learn and a strong drive to succeed. My depression does limit me, however, I know with the help of my medical team I can succeed. Please consider my appeal so that I may continue to take advantage of all that Queen¿¿s has to offer.